BUPA Luxol remain unbeaten

Mellieha SVS 71
Siggiewi Smina 73
(21-14, 19-9, 17-21, 14-29)

BUPA Luxol are still unbeaten at the top of the standings at the end of phase one of the championship. Last weekend, they beat Depiro for their 10th successive victory. Luxol, Compleet IS and Siggiewi Smina qualified for the Championship Pool while Depiro, Mellieha SVS and Floriana will fight it out to avoid the drop in the Relegation Pool.

Mellieha SVS 71
Siggiewi Smina 73
(21-14, 19-9, 17-21, 14-29)

Siggiewi staged a remarkable comeback in the last quarter to topple Mellieha who sorely felt the absence of chief scorer Chris Sammut.

Mellieha looked the more organised side for most of the match, exploiting Siggiewi's weak defence with a series of three-pointers. In the first 14 minutes, Steve Sammut did most of the damage, scoring 20 points as Siggiewi never gave the impression that they could overturn the result. Then, Abraham Portelli and Addison Bonnici found their form to see Siggiewi through.

Mellieha opened a 21-14 lead by the end of the first quarter. Siggiewi, with coach Alex Farrugia serving suspension, looked anything but a Championship Pool side at this stage. Substitute coach Joe Zammit could not infuse discipline in his players who were static in defence and unable to play as a unit. Mellieha profited from the situation to lead 40-23 at half-time.

Siggiewi looked slightly better after the break but were still unable to recover lost ground, 46-31. The Mellieha subs got some playing time as the side was troubled by fouls but Siggiewi still trailed 57-44 at the end of the third quarter.

But, Siggiewi woke up and grew in confidence as the northerners were giving away ball cheaply. With five minutes left, Siggiewi were suddenly a point in front, 63-62. They continued to add on their lead only for them to start shooting at random and allowing Mellieha to recover.

They almost made Siggiewi pay when the inexperienced Billy Zammit committed an unsporting foul at half court with his team five points ahead and less than three seconds left.

However, Julian Naudi missed the free-throws and his team's slim chances were over.

Mellieha: M. Cauchi, J. Naudi 8, J. Jetsen 7, S. Aquilina 2, J. Muscat, B. Aquilina 4, S. Sammut 29, M. Pisani 15, R. Loporto 6.

Siggiewi: L. Camilleri 11, J. Doughty 2, A. Portelli 22, I. Mercieca, P. Shoults 14, J.P. Bonnici 4, A. Bonnici 20, J.P. Antoncich, B. Zammit.

Refs: J.P. Sammut, E. Mangani, A. Carbonaro.

Depiro 52
Bupa Luxol 87
(11-25, 15-12, 11-31, 15-19)

Leaders Luxol chalked up their 10th consecutive victory in the regular season to complete the first phase of the championship unbeaten.

Depiro had several players missing. They could never play at a par with their fitter opponents who were unstoppable each time they raised the tempo of their game.

Luxol had a slow start and Depiro led 7-6 at one stage early on.

However, when John Tabone's team stepped up a gear they potted 15 consecutive points to close the opening quarter with a cushion lead.

Depiro hit back admirably in the second quarter to reduce the gap to seven points 31-24 by the fifth minute. However, Luxol soon switched to attack mode to regain control and change ends 37-26 ahead.

Luxol were in a class of their own after the interval and a series of three-pointers by Robert Azzopardi and Steve Schembri saw them widen the gap to 53-31.

Depiro were down and out as Luxol had long secured the points before easing up in the late stages of the match.

Depiro: R. Vella 17, D. Debono, M. Sammut, G. Muscat 4, A. Aquilina 9, A. Tabone 4, J. Gatt 9, E. Lupo 5, I. Tanti 4.

Luxol: M. Mercieca 9, R. Azzopardi 22, S. Mizzi, A. Borg 2, A. Bianchi, M. Bonnici , T. Paris 7, D. Schembri 14, M. Matijevic 17, S. Schembri 16.

Refs: J.P. Sammut, E. Mangani , C. Terribile.

Compleet IS SW 84
Floriana 63
(14-13, 18-18, 30-19, 22-13)

Compleet IS ended their phase one commitments with a victory over bottom-placed Floriana who again ran out of energy mainly due to a lack of adequate substitutes on the bench.

The first quarter was evenly balanced with Compleet IS coming back to lead by a point 14-13 before the start of the next session.

When play resumed Compleet IS increased their lead to 26-18. However, a time-out allowed Floriana to hit back and change ends only a point behind - 32-31.

Playmaker Omar Said and pivot Silvio Cassar came more into the picture after the interval mainly through fast breaks. Compleet IS held a 62-50 lead before the last quarter got underway.

With Floriana chasing shadows, Compleet potted points at will, easily controlling Floriana's feeble efforts.

Compleet IS: I. Baldakov, C. Calleja, E. Bezzina 13, J. Galea, T. Riolo 4, O. Said 22, A. Micallef 12, K. Baldacchino 4, S. Cassar 25, R. Mifsud 4.

Floriana: K. Azzopardi, B. Riolo 4, A. Sultana 10, S. Saakian 29, R. Micallef Trigona, G. Gilson 12, M. Pajec, J. Tanti, K. Borg 8.

Refs: B. Vassallo, J.P. Sammut, A. Carbonaro.

Standings: Luxol 20 (10-0), Compleet IS 17 (7-3), Siggiewi 16 (6-4), Depiro 14 (4-6), Mellieha 13 (3-7), Floriana 10 (0-10).

Top scorers: M. Matijevic (Luxol) 218, D. Schembri (Luxol) 163, S. Cassar (Compleet IS) 153, S. Saakian (Floriana) 151.