Athleta A to Z Electronics and Loyola Tata Motors booked their place in the semi-finals of the Louis Borg Cup after eliminating BUPA Luxol and Floriana Francesco Fenech respectively. The two semi-finals, Athleta vs Loyola and Siġġiewi vs Depiro Mtarfa, will be played next weekend.

Athleta 140
Luxol 120
(68-61; 72-59)

Athleta met strong resistance from Luxol but the champions’ aggressive defence and superior teamwork proved to be their winning card.

Luxol enjoyed some good passages during the two legs but hurried shots allowed Athleta, who were better underneath the boards, to regain the lead.

American player Jerome Billon performed well for Luxol in attack but played too much for himself at times and must also improve his defensive game. Lee Ross can also contribute more for Luxol if he defends more aggressively and turns the ball faster in attack.

After a quiet start, six consecutive points saw Athleta 10-8 ahead at the end of the first quarter. Luxol kept in touch until five minutes from half-time but slack defending and the wrong choice of shots allowed Athleta to change ends 34-22 in front.

Athleta seemed capable of preserving their lead but towards the fourth minute of the third quarter, a series of three-pointers helped Luxol to close the gap to five points, 46-41. Once again, Luxol lost the initiative as Athleta began the last 10 minutes with a 10-point cushion, 52-42.

Luxol intensified their efforts and with Athleta captain Michael Naudi out injured, they reduced the deficit to four points 65-61. Kristen Baldacchino’s three-pointer shattered Luxol hopes though as Athleta won the first leg 68-61.

Athleta were without Naudi for the second leg but they still enjoyed the better start. With David Bugeja and Mohammed Kawaid in fine form, Athleta opened a small gap which they retained until the end of the opening quarter, 21-17.

Luxol moved to within a point of their rivals thanks to a Billon three-pointer but Athleta hit back with a 17-4 run to go 38-24 ahead after eight minutes. Luxol recovered to go in for half-time 38-33 behind.

Athleta took control in the final minutes of the third session to open the last quarter 56-44 ahead. Hard as they tried, Luxol were unable to close the gap.

Loyola 130
Floriana 123
(64-49; 66-74)

Floriana’s improvement in the second leg was not enough to overturn the first-leg deficit and deny Loyola a place in the semi-finals.

Rashanti Harris, Loyola’s American player, showed his prowess underneath the boards in the first leg. Floriana’s Brad Williams also had some bright moments but his qualities were not exploited by his team-mates. When Williams began to make his presence felt underneath the boards, he committed his fifth foul with four minutes left.

Floriana missed Ian Mercieca but had former Athleta players Clayton Calleja and Adrian Baldacchino making their debut.

Loyola took advantage of Floriana’s poor start to open a 10-1 lead. Floriana gradually improved but despite sharing the exchanges, they could not recover lost ground as Loyola ended the second quarter 32-18 ahead.

Floriana raised their game as the third session got underway, reducing the arrears to five points, 32-27.

After a time-out, Loyola surpassed their difficult moment and, punishing Floriana’s errors, they regained control to begin the last 10 minutes 51-35 ahead.

Any hopes Floriana had of getting back into contention were dashed four minutes from the end when Williams was fouled out, allowing Loyola to build a 19-point lead, 64-45, ahead of the second leg.

With Williams lifting his game in the second match, Floriana improved to put pressure on Loyola. They were only three points behind on aggregate at one stage but Loyola battled back to narrow the deficit to six points, 32-26 at half-time.

Floriana put in a bold effort to try and get back on level terms with Loyola but the latter stayed compact to limit the damage and defend the lead they gained in the first leg.

Next fixtures
Saturday – Louis Borg Cup SFs, first legs 15.30 Siġġiewi vs Depiro; 17.15 Athleta vs Loyola.
Sunday – second legs, 14.45 Depiro vs Siġġiewi; 16.30 Loyola vs Athleta.

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