READING Rockets crashed to an 82-67 defeat at Bradford Dragons in NBL Division One on Sunday night.

Having defeated the Yorkshire side 95-74 just four weeks ago, Rockets were right to be confident on the journey north.

But it was clear from the tip that Dragons head coach Chris Mellor had stirred up his team as well as studied that previous game tape and had prepared well after a pair of defeats on the road the previous week.

An unwell Sydney Donaldson’s only contribution – he had to be withdrawn after only two minutes – was Rockets’ first score off the glass as the opening exchanges saw the lead change hands with regularity until Dragons went on a 10-2 run to lead 19-6.

Tim Gill again worked hard inside scoring nine personal points and his fellow American Scotty Hendricks hit Rockets’ sole treble at the end of the first quarter to keep the visitors in contention even though adrift 23-18.

The five-point deficit was increased to seven at the interval thanks to three trebles and some fine team play by an in-form Dragons where everything was dropping and their defence strong.

Ed Potter took a couple of big defensive rebounds and Ali Sbai opened his account with a lay-up before Jonathan Foulds took down an offensive rebound, scored and drew the penalty stroke which he converted.

However, the home side were still shooting extremely well, while Rockets percentage was very low at a little more than 30 as they trailed 46-39 at the break.

A Dragons treble to get the scoreboard moving at the start of the third period saw Rockets with a double-digit deficit which was worsened as Dragons went on a 10-0 run.

Rockets needed their fire back and it came in the form of Declan Soukup and Foulds with trebles and the latter taking a charge and stopping a certain Dragons score.

The 9-0 Rockets run raised the hopes of the travelling supporters and the bench, but a missed lay-up was punished by a Dragons treble, putting the hosts 60-51 up at the start of the final quarter.

Despite being in foul trouble, Rockets fought tenaciously to reduce the arrears to just four points at 61-57.

A Hendricks block raised the game tempo and hopes but as they missed a treble, Dragons stroked one and with a shade more than four minutes to go Rockets trailed by eight.

A Joel Keeble spin and a free throw from Hendricks kept Rockets in contention until Dragons converted eight from 10 free throws in the last three minutes against another Soukup treble and a pair of penalty shots by Hendricks.

Top scorers for Rockets were Hendricks (pictured) with 19 points and Gill with 16.

Rockets return to Rivermead on the first weekend of 2018 with games against Lancashire Spinners and Newcastle University.