Athleta A-Z Electronics 67
Siġġiewi 54
(18-13, 20-8, 14-18, 15-15)

Champions Athleta wrapped their first-round commitments with a sound victory over Siġġiewi who had Peter Shoults out and a limited bench available for this match.

Siġġiewi took more time than expected to settle down and their hopes were practically dashed as the second quarter got underway when Athleta, through fast breaks and the perfect shooting form of Michael Naudi and Steve Schembri, dominated to change ends 38-21 in front.

Siġġiewi could never close the gap and to make matters worse for them they also lost playmaker Louis Camilleri who sustained an injury.

Athleta: M. Naudi 26, I. Buldakov, D. Bugeja , M. Todorovic 9, M. Giusti, O. Said 11, D. Schembri 5, A. Bonnici 2, C. Baldacchino, S. Schembri 14.

Siġġiewi: R. Agius, L. Camilleri 8, E. Xuereb, A. Borg 9, K. Borg 8, C. Maier 13, M. Kodomaris, M. Mati-jevic 16.

Referees: G. Barbara, E. Mangani, A. Carbonaro.

Floriana Francesco Fenech 82
BUPA Luxol 69
(16-22, 20-15, 23-13, 23-19)

Floriana overcame a slow start to clinch their third victory and hang on to second place in the league standings.

Again, Luxol’s Jerome Bilen was the protagonist in this match but for different reasons.

He was forced to stay on the bench after committing early fouls and without him the team lost its shape.

However, he was also the team’s top scorer with 38 points, the same as Floriana’s Evan Fjeld.

Bilen was already on three fouls a couple of minutes into the second session as the Greens, with Fjeld coming more into the picture, turned a 12-point deficit into a 32-29 lead. Luxol, however, came back to hold a slight edge at half-time – 37-36.

The match developed into a balanced affair until Bilen lost three consecutive possessions and Floriana raced to a 59-50 lead before the last session got underway.

Luxol again regrouped to try and save the match but Floriana were not to be denied. They countered all tactics adopted by Luxol to preserve their lead.

Floriana: J. Curmi, C. Sammut 12, I. Mercieca 8, S. Sammut 13, C. Calleja 7, A. Baldacchino 2, E. Fjeld 38, A. Sultana, M. Ciantar 2.

Luxol: C.J. Cordina 2, M. Mercieca 5, J. Bilen 38, A. Micallef Trigona 2, A. Costa, N. Vasovic 8, T. Paris, M. Attard Montaldo, E. Caruana Montaldo, J.P. Bonnici 14.

Referees: B. Vassallo, G. Barbara, A. Carbonaro.

Depiro Mtarfa 65
Loyola Tata Motors 59
(8-11, 20-20, 19-12, 18-16)

Depiro returned to victory after three consecutive defeats as Loyola could not repeat their performance against Athleta.

The end of the first quarter saw Loyola three points in front and the tune did not change much after that as just before the half-time buzzer, a Roderick Vella shot from outside the arc saw Depiro still trailing 31-28.

Vella drew courage from that successful pot and steered Depiro to a 45-35 lead by the sixth minute.

Though having Rashanti Harris sidelined, Loyola still levelled matters at 50-50 but two consecutive technical fouls against their bench saw Depiro moving five points ahead.

That took the fight out of Loyola who never really recovered.

Depiro: R. Vella 18, J.P. Sammut, A. Aquilina 10, A. Portelli 5, A. Micallef 16, E. Lupo 2, M. Mallia, I. Tanti 2, G. Hamlin 12.

Loyola: S. Pace 7, B. Zammit, D. Camilleri 5, S. Borg, L. Azzopardi, S. Vella 2, A. Axiaq 11, J.P. Azzopardi 3, J. Ransley, R. Harris 31.

Referees: S. Gouder, G. Barbara, C. Terribile.

Standings: Athleta 10 (5-0), Flo-riana 8 (3-2), BUPA Luxol 8 (3-2), Depiro 7 (2-3), Siġġiewi 7 (2-3), Loyola 5 (0-5).

Top scorers: J. Bilen (Luxol) 174, E. Fjeld (Floriana) 142, R. Harris (Loyola) 127, M. Naudi (Athleta) 97, M. Matijevic (Siġġiewi) 96.

Next fixtures: Saturday, 15.30 Luxol vs Loyola. Sunday, 14.45 Floriana vs Athleta, 16.30 Siġġiewi vs Depiro.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.