Champions Luxol off to flying start

Luxol 105
Qormi 52
(25-9, 32-12, 25-16, 23-15)

Champions BUPA Luxol were off to flying start last weekend as they started their title defence in style by trouncing modest Qormi 105-52.

There was an all-round improvement from Luxol on their last showing in the MBA Shield as they turned the ball around better against the newly-promoted side before releasing either Marko Matijevic or Dirk Schembri to pot easy baskets.

Qormi are in for a difficult season.

They were unable to halt Luxol's flying start and, even worse, they came a cropper in their conclusions when managing to find a way through. Luxol dictated matters freely till half-time and led 57-21.

Qormi showed better fare after the interval but they were still miles behind Luxol for whom Steve Schembri potted six three-pointers to help the side surpass the 100-point mark.

Luxol: R. Dalli, M. Mercieca 6, R. Azzopardi 7, M. Micallef, A. Borg 8, A. Portelli 5, T. Paris 1, D. Schembri 29, E. Caruana Montaldo, M. Matijevic 22, S. Schembri 27.

Qormi: K. Scicluna 10, J. Sant, A. Baldacchino 4, J. Axiaq 8, R. Formosa 5, A. Tabone 2, K. Borg 8, A. Axiaq, J. Dalli 6, A. Costa 7, S. Cauchi 2, C. Bugeja.

Referees: E. Mangani, S. Micallef, A. Micallef.

Depiro 53
Compleet IS SW 61
(12-13, 13-17, 12-20, 16-11)

Last weekend, Compleet IS were not the same team that had played so brilliantly in the MBA Shield. They struggled to overcome a spirited Depiro side who had captain R. Vella missing.

Compleet had Etienne Bezzina back but Addison Bonnici was out injured. They found it hard to conclude their attacking moves and their shooting average was low. At the end of the first quarter, Joe Galea's team was only one point in front.

Depiro kept battling on but gave away easy rebounds and allowed Compleet to increase their lead in the final minutes before lemon time to 30-25.

Depiro were also hard done by a somewhat harsh decision when the officials called a technical foul against Isaac Tanti for reacting badly to a substitution.

At one point, Depiro also had their tallest players, Jeffrey Gatt and Sassoun Saakian, on the bench and this allowed hot-shot Michael Naudi to dominate underneath the boards and add useful points to his team's tally - 50-37 at the third session.

Compleet looked cruising to victory only for Depiro to hit back admirably and get to within six points from their opponents 59-53. But, Compleet were not to be denied and relied on all their experience to secure the victory.

Depiro: J.P. Schembri, D. Bugeja, N. Gatt, A. Aquilina 7, G. Muscat 1, J. Gatt 9, D. Debono, E. Lupo 6, S. Saakian 10, I. Tanti 7, D. Agius 13.

Compleet: M. Naudi 16, J. Naudi, D. Camilleri 5, E. Bezzina 7, C. Sammut 3, O. Said 14, C. Calleja 6, K. Baldacchino, S. Cassar 10.

Referees: G. Barbara, S. Micallef, A. Carbonaro.

Gatorade League

(Friday) 7.45 p.m. Qormi vs Depiro. (Sunday) 4.15 p.m. Siġġiewi vs Luxol.