Carnegie Lose in Overtime Thriller...again
Leeds Carnegie were dealt another devastating loss by the Bradford Dragons this weekend. In front of a very large crowd, with support for both West Yorkshire at Carnegie Sports Centre. Both teams proceeded to put on a show.
The game was dominated by defence, with both teams never really finding an offensive rhythm. The first quarter proved to be the highest scoring quarter ending 22-20 in favour of Bradford. But Carnegie fought back and contained the Dragons scoring to just 8 points. Taking a 32-30 lead into the half.
Dragons edged the third quarter to take a 4 point lead into the fourth quarter, but once again Bradford couldn’t keep Carnegie down. Leeds shooting guard Wilkins hit a massive three pointer with just over one minute remaining. Then another Carnegie stop saw them with a chance to win the game. With 23 seconds remaining Coach Newby called a timeout and drew up the final play. The ball ended up in Houghton’s hands with time winding down, his three point just missed hitting the back of the rim and for the second time in a week the West Yorkshire derby was sent into overtime with the scores level at 56-56.
The overtime period again swung in favour of Bradford, with Wilkins, Ajumobi and Anebo getting fouled out of the game and Houghton going down with an ankle injury. It was up to Carnegie’s bench to try to dig out a victory. Unfortunately the shots just didn’t drop and Dragons took the game for the second week running.
After Coach Newby said ‘Although it is tough to accept another loss in overtime, it is great for basketball in West Yorkshire to have two incredibly competitve teams. To have back to back overtime games against the same team is such a rarity, it must have been exciting to watch for the neutral fan.’