Luxol claim first honour of season

Compleet IS SW 58
Bupa Luxol 65
(16-16, 12-16, 18-9, 12-24)

BUPA Luxol won the MBA Shield for the sixth time in their history after having the better of Compleet IS SW in a tense final on Sunday. The MBA Shield was the first major honour of the 2007/08 season.

Compleet IS SW 58
Bupa Luxol 65
(16-16, 12-16, 18-9, 12-24)

The opening stages of the last quarter proved fatal for Compleet IS as they suffered 12 consecutive points, allowing their opponents to cruise to victory. Hard as they tried, the Wanderers could not wipe out that gap as Luxol grew in confidence.

Marko Matijevic again proved his worth to finish the game's top scorer with 25 points.

Joe Galea's team were the first to get into gear as they opened a slight 10-4 lead by the fifth minute. Luxol, who adopted a more elaborate attacking ploy than usual, came back as Robert Azzopardi and Steve Schembri found their shooting touch to level 16-all after the first quarter.

With Schembri doing well to blot Michael Naudi out of the game, there was a perfect balance between the two contenders until Luxol's last-minute efforts saw them going 32-28 in front at half-time.

Luxol lost their way as the third session got underway and with Matijevic under tight scrutiny, they were facing difficulties. But Compleet IS took more time than expected to profit from the situation until hitting an 11-1 break that pushed them ahead 46-40.

Luxol were in trouble at this stage and their poor shooting percentage did not help matters either.

However, the opening five minutes of the last quarter were disastrous for the Wanderers with Matijevic regaining confidence and leading Luxol past Compleet IS.

Luxol were now a galvanised lot and kept their opponents at bay without much difficulty for a resounding victory.

Pembroke: M. Naudi 16, J. Zammit, C. Calleja, E. Bezzina 4, J. Galea, T. Riolo, O. Said 11, A. Micallef 9, D. Cuschieri 5, K. Baldacchino 6, S. Cassar 7, R. Mifsud.

Luxol: M. Mercieca, R. Azzopardi 15, M. Micallef, A. Borg 5, A. Bianchi, M. Bonnici, T. Paris, D. Schembri 6, E. Caruana Montaldo, M. Matijevic 25, S. Schembri 14.

Referees: B. Vassallo, J.P. Sammut.

Gatorade League: (Friday) 7.45 p.m. Floriana vs Mellieha. (Saturday) 4.15 p.m. Depiro vs Compleet IS. (Sunday) 2.30 p.m. Luxol vs Siggiewi.