LANCASHIRE Spinners endured mixed fortunes this week as they dominated Derby Trailblazers to claim an 88-64 win in the National Trophy before losing 99-95 to Reading Rockets in overtime, writes Allen Gunn.

Steven Vaughan scored 15 points off the bench in the Bury-based club's victory over Derby.

The Spinners' bench outscored the visiting Trailblazers 22-7 in the first half, as they remained perfect in pool play.

Vaughan said: “We showed if we stay focused and engaged we can be a very dangerous team.”

Guard Alex Roberts added 13 points, connecting on three of his four attempts at three-pointers, while debutant Nick George contributed five points, four rebounds and three assists in 12 minutes.

Lancashire swarmed Derby from the tip-off, hitting four-straight threes to lead 12-7 after two minutes. Derby would convert two threes to close the first quarter trailing only 26-21.

However, Spinners began period two on a 17-5 run to lead 43-26, highlighted by a three-point play from Vaughan.

Derby, who shot 26 per cent in the half, managed just three points in the latter part of the quarter allowing Spinners to build a 52-29 half-time advantage.

Spinners scored the first nine points of the second half growing the lead to its largest at 61-29.

“It was a great win,” said Spinners assistant coach Lewis Scott. “It gives us good confidence going forward.”

Brothers Dan and David Watts had 12 and 11 points, respectively.

They could and probably should have enjoyed two victories in the week after leading Reading by six points with under two minutes remaining in regulation time.

“It’s frustrating,” Lancashire coach Neal Hopkins admitted. “We put ourselves in a position to win the game but ultimately things didn’t go our way.”

Danny Carter, who had 27 points and seven rebounds, hit a driving lay-up for the game-tying three-point play with 30.4 seconds left.

Reading would outscore Spinners 14-10 in the extra period and 16-10 over a period of seven and a half minutes, including overtime.

Connor Murtagh had 25 points and led five Spinners (4-1, 0-1 Division One) who recorded double-figures scoring in the loss.

Lancashire again started strong leading 7-0 early but found themselves only ahead by a point after 10 minutes.

The first half, which saw 11 ties and 11 lead changes, was tied 38 at the break.

Reading led for a majority of the second half but fell behind as Spinners held an 85-79 lead with 1mins 24secs remaining.

A technical foul call against George, who added 16 points in his second game, and a costly turnover helped Reading reach overtime.