THE Basingstoke Bison went down 3-1 away at Milton Keynes Lightning in their final pre-season challenge match last night.

The Bison out-shot their hosts, but found themselves 2-0 down at the first break and conceded a third in the second period. Aaron Connolly pulled one goal back with 12 minutes to play, but the Herd were unable to mount a comeback.

Milton Keynes opened the scoring with 5:39 on the clock, Grant McPherson finding the net with Lewis Christie and Luc Marc Johnson getting the assists.

They doubled the lead a minute before the first buzzer, Markku Tahtinen scoring from Bobby Colin Chamberlain and Marko Luomala.

A third goal was added on the powerplay at 30:05, Rene Jarolin slotting home after good work from Lewis Hook and Blaz Emersic.

That goal was the cue for the Bison to switch netminders, with Daniel Weller-Evans replacing Tomas Hiadlovsky for the second half of the match.

The youngster kept a clean sheet and Connolly reduced the deficit at 48:50, scoring from Joe Rand and Shaun Thompson.

SCORING: Lightning: McPherson, Tahtinen, Jarolin 1+0, Christie, Johnson, Chamberlain, Luomala, Hook, Emersic 0+1. Bison: Connolly 1+0, Rand, Thompson 0+1.

Shots on Goal: Lightning: Skinns 35. Bison: Hiadlovsky 21, Weller-Evans 8.

Penalties: Lightning: 10min. Bison: 6 min.