Pembroke stumble

Pembroke Tumas Group 42
Siggiewi 59
(11-15, 11-14, 13-13, 7-17)

Pembroke Tumas Group stumbled in the very last match from the round robin phase of the MBA Shield on Sunday to relinquish their top placing in the standings and now face a very difficult task in the semi-finals when playing against Luxol on Thursday.

Siggiewi finished with a better points aggregate than Pembroke to claim the second placing. They play Stingers, also on Thursday, in the other semi-final.

In a match riddled with mistakes, it was Siggiewi who enjoyed a better hold of their nerves to hand the Reds their first upset of the season.

Pembroke were far from the form shown so far. Their shooters were not precise and passing errors have crept inside their game. Siggiewi never yielded an inch in defence and gave Pembroke no chance to settle down.

Siggiewi, with Adrian Micallef in superb shooting form, held a slight edge at the end of the opening session 15-11. Pembroke then looked like they were going to hit back but Siggiewi held sway to go in for the break 29-22 ahead.

With Pembroke unable to raise their game, Ray Muscat's team continued to hold the upperhand as Joe Galea's team was now hard-hit by fouls on their card.

Midway through the last session they lost Michael Naudi and their hopes vanished in thin air as Siggiewi cantered home to victory.

Pembroke: M. Naudi 12, J. Naudi 8, P. Abela 4, E. Bezzina 4, O. Said 10, J.P. Azzopardi, D. Cuschieri 2, T. Degiorgio, J. Ransley, G. Cassar 2.

Siggiewi: D. Agius, M. Pisani, J. Doughty, A. Borg 10, N. Farrugia 13, A. Portelli 10, A. Micallef 22, R. Mifsud, S. Cauchi, J. Gatt 4.

Stingers 42
Fiat Luxol 88
(13-24, 12-21, 9-23, 8-20)

As this scoreline clearly indicates, Stingers were no match for Luxol whose very efficient full court zone press simply overwhelmed their inexperienced opponents.

There was no fighting spirit at all in Stingers' game. Their shooting was poor besides letting pivot Silvio Cassar having a field day for Luxol. He potted 32 points.

After the fifth minute, Luxol coach John Tabone ordered his players to press and gradually the team started pulling away to take a convincing 45-25 lead at half-time.

Stingers were nowhere to be seen as Luxol continued to dictate matters. This was an easy win for them but their next match in the competition will be a completely different proposition.

Stingers: C. Sammut 4, S. Sammut, I. Mercieca, L. Camilleri, M. Barberi 8, D. Schembri 6, A. Bonnici 12, A. Huizer, S. Schembri 12, E. Xuereb.

Luxol: D. Falzon 11, M. Mercieca 8, R. Azzopardi 12, R. Schembri 9, B. Micallef Trigona, R. Dalli, A. Bianchi 3, W. Spiteri, I. Attard 13, S. Cassar 32.

Standings: Luxol, Siggiewi, Pembroke 7; Stingers 5; Hamrun 4 (points average determined top three placings).

Next fixtures: (Thursday) 6.15 p.m. Luxol vs Pembroke; 7.45 p.m. Siggiewi vs Stingers.