Morale-boosting victory for Compleet over rivals Bupa

BUPA Luxol 59
Compleet IS SW 65
(13-11, 12-15, 22-20, 12-19)

This was a morale-boosting victory for Compleet IS who chalked up their first victory of the season on champions BUPA Luxol after three successive upsets.

These two great rivals of Maltese basketball are set to claim a place in the play-offs final as third-placed Siġġiewi Smina are lagging behind in the current Championship Pool standings.

However, the antagonism between the two clans guaranteed another hard-fought match for those present at the pavilion and the stage is now set for another pulsating derby in today's BOV KO final.

Both teams took their time to settle down but Luxol finished ahead in a low-scoring opening quarter thanks to the baskets potted by Abraham Portelli.

Balance prevailed in the second quarter as well but this time the pendulum swung Compleet's way to finish 26-25 in front at the interval.

After the break, Schembri duo Steve and Dirk were very much in the picture for Luxol with Compleet relying mostly on veteran Silvio Cassar and Julian Naudi to add points to their tally.

With the top placing in the standings still up for grabs, no team managed to find a breakthrough and the last 10 minutes opened with Luxol 47-46 ahead.

Cassar maintained his stance in attack and continued to pot crucial points for Joe Galea's team.

Luxol lost their rhythm and Compleet just managed to open a narrow lead. In the end, that was enough for them to secure victory, a success that strengthens belief ahead of more important matches coming up.

Luxol: B. Micallef Trigona, M. Mercieca 4, R. Azzopardi 8, A. Borg 4, A. Portelli 7, N. Vasovic 4, T. Paris, D. Schembri 6, E. Caruana Montaldo, M. Matijevic 13, S. Schembri 13.

Compleet: M. Naudi 14, J. Naudi 12, D. Camilleri 8, E. Bezzina 1, C. Sammut, J. Valdiserra, O. Said 3, C. Calleja, K. Baldacchino 4, S. Cassar 23.

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