Depiro leave lowly Qormi without a win

Qormi 68
Depiro 73
(13-9, 20-13, 19-25, 16-26)

Depiro had three players missing for this match but found enough energy in their reserve tanks to come from behind in the last five minutes and clinch victory, leaving Qormi without a win at the bottom of the standings.

Things looked bright for Qormi after taking an early 13-4 lead but veteran Sassoun Saakian pulled his team together to reduce the gap by the end of the first quarter to 13-9.

Both teams looked fully focused in the second session and more accurate from the three-point line. Depiro were 15-14 up at one point but then, eight consecutive points saw Qormi change ends 33-22 ahead.

Qormi held the edge after the interval but after extending their lead to 43-29, Depiro, with youngsters Andrew Aquilina and David Debono coming more into the picture, went on to re-open the issue. Depiro were only 52-47 behind when the last quarter got underway.

Qormi looked to have lost their plot when a Saakian basket put Depiro 58-57 ahead. Qormi potted the next basket but their narrow lead was short-lived as two consecutive three-pointers put Depiro 65-59 ahead.

The final minutes were frantic but with Isaac Tanti playing a blinder in the zone, Depiro held tight to preserve their slight lead till the final whistle.

Qormi: K. Scicluna 7, H. Spiteri, J. Anastasi 3, A. Baldacchino, R. Formosa 16, A. Tabone 8, K. Borg 17, A. Asciaq 8, J. Dalli, A. Costa 9, S. Cauchi, C. Bugeja.

Depiro: N. Gatt, J.P. Schembri, D. Bugeja 2, A. Aquilina 21, D. Debono 15, E. Lupo, S. Saakian 17, I. Tanti 13, D. Agius 5.

Referees: B. Vassallo, G. Barbara, E. Mangani.

Siġġiewi Smina 61
BUPA Luxol 69
(6-17, 12-20, 15-15, 28-17)

BUPA Luxol collected their second victory to go top of the standings after two games. Siġġiewi had playmaker Louis Camilleri back from injury and they also paraded foreigner Petor Vulovic for the first time.

In the opening 15 minutes Siġġiewi found it hard to score points due mainly to their erratic shooting form and confused play in attack.

Luxol were in total control underneath the boards through Marko Matijevic and Dirk Schembri. They also had Steve Schembri in fine form and it came as no surprise when they raced to a 27-8 lead midway through the second quarter.

Siġġiewi opted for a time-out and substitutions and the trick worked for them as they managed to halt the rot and go in for the break 37-18 behind.

Siġġiewi continued to battle hard after the interval but their efforts were matched by Luxol who maintained a 52-33 lead for the last quarter.

With five minutes left, Luxol still enjoyed a handsome 18-point lead (63-45), but Siġġiewi started firing on all cylinders with top-scorer Adrian Micallef leading the charge.

However, there was little time left for Siġġiewi to save the match and the final buzzer came as a relief for Luxol.

Siġġiewi: J.P. Antoncich, B. Zammit, L. Camilleri 7, J. Doughty, E. Xuereb, I. Mercieca, P. Shoults 11, J.P. Bonnici 10, A. Micallef 23, P. Vulovic 3, M. Pajec, J. Jetsen 7.

Luxol: R. Dalli, M. Mercieca 6, R. Azzopardi 6, A. Borg 7, A. Portelli 10, T. Paris, D. Schembri 4, M. Matijevic 15, S. Schembri 21.

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

Standings: Luxol (2-0) 4, Depiro (1-1) 3, Compleet (1-0) 2, Qormi (0-2) 2, Siġġiewi (0-1) 1.

Top scorers: S. Schembri (Luxol) 46, M. Matijevic (Luxol) 37, D. Schembri (Luxol) 33, A. Aquilina (Depiro) 28, S. Saakian (Depiro) 27.

Gatorade League: (Friday) 19.45 Depiro vs Siġġiewi. (Sunday) 16.15 Compleet IS SW vs Qormi.