Luxol battle hard despite protest upset

Pembroke 83
Bupa Luxol 71
(1st leg - 20-0, 2nd leg - 63-71)

Pembroke lifted the Louis Borg Cup for the third time last weekend but their job in the final was rendered easier than expected as, according to a MBA ruling, BUPA Luxol failed to adhere to competition rules in the first leg and fielded more than eight over-18 players in their line-up.

Pembroke won the first leg on Saturday by a mere three-point margin (69-66). But, they started the return match on Sunday with a better advantage after being awarded a 20-0 win thanks to their successful protest that was heard with urgency by the association.

The Louis Borg Cup was Pembroke's second honour of the season after the Super Cup, also won at the expense of Luxol.

Despite the upset of losing the protest and starting -20 points, Luxol were not downhearted as the second leg got underway. Their game was perfect in most aspects as Luxol almost cancelled the deficit by half-time. They led 44-25.

Luxol continued where they had left off after the break. Pembroke had Michael Naudi on the bench in the meantime as he was not fully fit.

However, with Luxol adding more points to increase their tally (61-32), Naudi came to his team's rescue, potting 17 useful points which killed all hopes Luxol had of a comeback win.

Next fixtures: Kinnie League (Saturday) 4.15 p.m. Siggiewi vs Luxol. (Sunday) 2.30 p.m. Footwork vs Depiro; 4.15 p.m. Hamrun vs Pembroke.

Depiro retain cup for fourth year

Depiro Still 107
Hibs Go Mobile 103
(1st leg - 49-59, 2nd leg - 58-44)

Depiro Still kept their hold on the Louis Borg Cup as they beat Hibs Go Mobile over two legs to claim the honour for the fourth year running.

Hibs missed the chance to stop their rivals' dominance in this competition when, with nine minutes left, they were unable to control a 12-point lead on aggregate.

Though playing without suspended forward Rosanne Falzon and playmaker Rachel Tryon, injured, Depiro were the first team to settle down in the first leg and held a 26-16 lead midway through the second quarter.

Hibs improved and after reducing the gap to 27-22 went on to lead 41-38. But, it was only in the last minutes that Hibs finally broke down Depiro's resistance to take a ten-point lead ahead of the second leg - 59-49.

After a balanced start to the return leg, Depiro, with Falzon back in their ranks, opened a 23-12 lead but Hibs came back to reduce the deficit to 24-18 by half-time. Their comeback was completed by the end of the third quarter - 31-31.

But after potting the first basket of the last session, Hibs failed to control their nerves. Their game suddenly faded to nothing as they missed various shots, allowing Depiro to crawl back into contention and eventually forcing extra time - 96-96 on aggregate.

There was only one team now as Depiro took an early six-point lead and never looked back. Hibs had run out of breath.

Next fixtures: (Friday) Peugeot League 6.15 p.m. Luxol vs Qormi, 7.45 p.m. Kerygma vs Depiro. (Sunday) 12.45 p.m. Hibs vs Naxxar.