Loyola shock Luxol for first victory

BUPA Luxol 63
Loyola Tata Motors 68
(22-15, 13-17, 9-21, 13-4, 6-11)

Luxol’s play-off hopes suffered a blow after crashing to an unex-pected defeat to lowly Loyola.

Raschanti Harris’s superiority underneath the boards was crucial for Loyola as Luxol’s Jerome Belin struggled to find his range from the three-point line.

It was Luxol who made the better start to take a 22-15 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Loyola improved to close the gap to a single point, 26-25, after five minutes of the second session as John Tabone, the Luxol coach, was forced to substitute Belin who had committed his third foul.

Loyola, however, were unable to take advantage as they changed ends 35-32 behind.

Luxol lost their way in the third quarter and a series of erratic shots proved them costly as Loyola forged 44-42 ahead. As Tabone’s team continued to struggle, Loyola took control to start the last quarter 53-44 in front.

They were pushed back by a determined Luxol fightback who forced extra-time (57-57).

Before the buzzer, Lee Ross had possession but his three-pointer fell short, much to the relief of Loyola and coach Alfred Mifsud.

As overtime got underway, Loyola scored the first five points, 67-62, and never looked back.

Luxol: J.P. Cordina, M. Mercieca 4, J. Belin 21, A. Micallef Trigona 4, L. Ross 19, A. Costa, N. Vasovic 11, T. Paris, M. Attard Montaldo, E. Caruana Montalto, J.P. Bonnici 4, S. Capello.

Loyola: S. Pace 16, B. Zammit, D. Camilleri, M. Cilia, S. Borg 6, L. Azzopardi, S. Vella, A. Axiaq 6, J.P. Azzopardi 10, J. Ransley 10, R. Harris 20.

Depiro 73
Siġġiewi 68
(9-15, 19-14, 14-19, 31-20)

Not for the first time this season, Siġġiewi faded in the final seconds after leading for most of the game.

Depiro, under the guidance of new coach Mario Tabone, seemed unable to hit back but suddenly Greg Hamlin clicked into gear to galvanise his team-mates and set up a dramatic finale.

Siġġiewi sorely missed injured playmaker Louis Camilleri and with few substitutes available, they tired out and lost their way at a very crucial stage when they threw away a 13-point advantage.

They had opened strongly to go 10-2 ahead. After a time-out, Depiro recovered to share the exchanges till the end of the quarter, 15-9.

Siġġiewi stayed in front until Alan Borg committed his third foul and had to be substituted. Depiro fought back but two Chris Maier free-throws allowed Siġġiewi to change ends 29-28 ahead.

Borg returned after the interval but two other fouls led to him being fouled out and Siġġiewi penalised with a technical foul for protests.

Depiro exploited their opponents’ troubles to go 36-32 ahead but Siġġiewi recovered and seemed heading to their third victory when leading 60-47 with five minutes left.

But then, a series of baskets by Hamlin, aided by some wayward Siġġiewi play, allowed Depiro back in and with seven seconds left, Jean Paul Schembri com-pleted their comeback with a three-point ‘killer’.

Depiro: R. Vella 9, J.P. Schembri 3, A. Aquilina 11, A. Portelli 6, A. Micallef 17, M. Mallia 6, I. Tanti 4, G. Hamlin 17.

Siġġiewi: R. Agius 4, E. Xuereb 2, A. Cutajar, A. Borg 10, K. Borg 13, C. Maier 19, M. Kodomaris, M. Matijevic 20.

Floriana 46
Athleta 83
(17-13, 13-21, 12-22, 4-27)

Despite being shorn of the services of Dirk and Steve Schembri, leaders Athleta were still too good for Floriana who only kept the pace until the end of the third quarter.

With Evan Fjeld afforded little space, Floriana were ineffective in the zone and once their outside shooting percentage dropped, they found it difficult to add more points.

The Greens started strongly and went on to win the first quarter 17-13 but Athleta hit back strongly to change ends 34-30 ahead.

Floriana were still in it after the interval as they led 39-37. Suddenly, there was only one team on court as Athleta dominated to start the last 10 minutes 56-42 ahead.

With Floriana demoralised, Athleta cruised to victory as they went on to add 27 points to their oppo-nents’ mere four.

Floriana: J. Curmi, C. Sammut 19, I. Mercieca 3, S. Sammut 11, C. Calleja 3, A. Baldacchino 2, E. Fjeld 8, A. Sultana, M. Ciantar.

Athleta: M. Naudi 19, D. Bugeja 13, M. Todorovic 15, M. Giusti, O. Said 22, A. Bonnici 10, K. Baldac-chino 4.

Standings: Athleta 12 (6-0); Floriana 9 (3-3), Luxol 9 (3-3) Depiro 9 (3-3); Siġġiewi 8 (2-4); Loyola 7 (1-5).

Top scorers: J. Belin (Luxol) 195; R. Harris (Loyola) 173; E. Fjeld (Floriana) 150; M. Matijevic (Siġġiewi) 116; G. Hamlin (Depiro) 112.

Next fixtures: Saturday, 15.30 Loyola vs Floriana. Sunday, 13.00 Siġġiewi vs Luxol; 14.45 Athleta vs Depiro.