Luxol atone for league upset with KO win

Floriana Fran. Fenech 80
Bupa Luxol 87
(12-26, 15-24, 19-14, 34-23)

BUPA Luxol put behind them the disappointment of missing out on the National League play-offs as they overcame the challenge of Floriana Francesco Fenech to win the BOV Knock-Out for the sixteenth time in their history yesterday.

A flawless start to the match set the platform for Luxol’s success as John Tabone’s men duly punished Floriana’s static defending and raced to a 26-12 lead at the end of the first session.

The Greens struggled to mount a reaction and with Luxol starting to take control underneath the boards, it was no surprise that they surged into a commanding 23-point lead when ends were changed, 50-27.

Floriana started to show signs of improvement at the start of the third quarter with their American player Evan Fjeld potting some crucial points and winning a number of fouls underneath the boards to push his team 13 points behind their opponents, 57-44.

But towards the end of the session, Floriana’s slow place in attack was fully exploited by Luxol who went on to start the final ten minutes 64-46 ahead.

Floriana’s full-court press did not reap tangible results and Luxol approached the final five minutes of the match with a handsome advantage, 70-56.

Poor free-throw shooting was starting to hurt Luxol as Floriana were gradually whittling down their deficit. The loss of Jean Paul Bonnici, Andrew Micallef Trigona and Jerom Belin, who were all fouled-out, did not help Luxol’s cause.

But Floriana’s hopes of turning the match around were all but ended when Fjeld and Steve Sammut lost two vital free-throws late on.

At the other end, Tom Paris potted two-from-two from the free-throw line to seal Luxol’s victory.

At the end of the match, BOV CEO Peter Perotti presented the BOV KO trophy to Luxol captain Marco Mercieca.

Floriana: J. Curmi, C. Sammut 7, I. Mercieca 7, S. Sammut 10, C. Calleja 12, A. Baldacchino 2, E. Fjeld 38, A. Sultana 2, M. Ciantar 2.

Luxol: CJ Cordina, M. Merceica 11, J. Belin 36, A. Micallef Trigona 8, L. Ross 9, A. Costa 1, N. Vasovic 4, T. Paris 2, M. Attard Montaldo, E. Caruana Montaldo, JP Bonnici 16, S. Capello.

Referees: G. Barbara, E. Mangani, C. Terribile.

Next fixtures: National League play-offs – Sunday 2.45 p.m. Athleta vs Siġġiewi; 4.30 p.m. Floriana vs Depiro.