Reigning champions Athleta A-Z Electronics launched their men’s league title defence with a comfortable victory over Loyola Tata Motors on Sunday. BUPA Luxol needed extra-time to lower the colours of Floriana Francesco Fenech while Siġġiewi had the better of Pavi Depiro.

Athleta A-Z Elect. 95
Loyola Tata Motors 49
(20-7, 24-10, 24-11, 27-21)

Champions Athleta could not have hoped for a better start to their title defence as they easily disposed of Loyola.

Loyola, who have lost key players Shawn Pace and David Camilleri, must surely step up their game or else they are in for a difficult season.

Athleta, with Marco Todorovic unstoppable underneath the boards, took control from the jumpball. By the end of the quarter, they had opened a 20-7 lead.

Despite resting several key players, Athleta continued to dictate matters to change ends with a commanding advantage, 44-17.

With Loyola unable to raise their game, Athleta continued to pull further away to start the last 10 minutes 68-28 ahead.

With their substitutes on court for the last session, Athleta preserved their lead without difficulty despite Loyola’s efforts.

Athleta: M. Gauci Montaldo 2, D. Bugeja 6, M. Todorovic 29, M. Giusti 5, Z. Borg 6, O. Said 17, S. Pace 5, A. Bonnici 6, K. Baldacchino 5, S. Schembri 14.

Loyola: I. Buldakov, B. Zammit 6, A. Sarro 7, C. Cassar 2, S. Borg, L. Azzopardi, S. Vella, A. Axiaq 7, J.P. Azzopardi 11, V. Nikolic, J. Ransley, K. Evans 16.

Referees: G. Barbara, E. Mangani, S. Gouder.

BUPA Luxol 95
Floriana F. Fenech 89
(20-29, 26-25, 21-21, 20-12, 8-2)

Luxol produced a stirring fightback after the interval as they came from behind to beat Floriana after extra-time.

With returning pivot Dirk Schembri making his presence felt underneath the boards along with Philip Thomas, Floriana were on top in the opening two quarters.

However, things changed at the start of the third session as Luxol’s Marco Mercieca, Jean Paul Bonnici and Stephen Shaklefield contributed significantly to help their team turn the match in their favour.

Floriana began strongly and inspired by the fine shooting of playmaker Chris Sammut and Thomas, they surged into an 11-2 lead by the third minute.

Here, Luxol coach John Tabone called a time-out and this bolstered his side who ended the first quarter nine points behind, 29-20.

In the second session, Luxol managed to reduce the deficit to just four points (37-33) but Floriana soon regrouped and changed ends 54-46 ahead.

The third period saw both teams share the exchanges with Floriana holding a healthy 75-67 advantage with only the last session to play.

In the last 10 minutes, Luxol started to play with more aggression as Floriana suddenly faltered. Playmaker Sammut was unable to add more points while Thomas found the going tough underneath the boards.

Luxol profited from their opponents’ decline to narrow the gap to only seven points (83-76) with five minutes left.

Sammut missed two free-throws and Sassoun Saakian committed a foul in attack, handing Luxol captain Mercieca two free-throws which he potted successfully to take the game into extra-time.

Floriana then lost rebounders Bevan Scott Camilleri and Ian Camilleri, both fouled out, and that enabled Luxol to take control in extra-time despite losing top-scorer Shacklefield on number of fouls committed.

Floriana looked confused and Luxol showed all their experience to administer their lead till the end.

Luxol: C.J. Cordina 7, M. Mercieca 14, J. Willoughby, A. Said, S. Shaklefield 42, J.P. Schembri 2, N. Vasovic 25, T. Paris, E. Bonello, E. Caruana Montaldo, J.P. Bonnici 5, S. Capello.

Floriana: B. Scott Camilleri 13, D. Camilleri 6, C. Sammut 16, D. Schembri 26, I. Mercieca 3, S. Sammut, P. Thomas 25, S. Saakian.

Referees: E. Mangani, A. Carbonaro, C. Terribile.

Pavi Depiro 57
Siġġiewi 67
(8-18, 19-20, 14-12, 16-17)

This match never reached the heights of the Luxol-Floriana game as both teams were guilty of some careless play and low shooting percentage.

Siġġiewi owe their victory to Chris Maier who potted valuable points in crucial moments.

Depiro sorely missed the departed Adrian Micallef as they struggled with their shot-making.

Siġġiewi had the better start as they led 11-4 after five minutes.

With Depiro unable to find their touch, Siġġiewi ended the first session 18-8 ahead.

Depiro showed signs of improvement in the second quarter to limit the damage as Siġġiewi went in for the interval 38-27 ahead.

On the restart, Depiro looked more determined and bridged the gap to just six points, 38-32.

But Siġġiewi soon recovered as they stretched their lead to 50-41 with only the last session to play.

Hard as they tried Depiro could not put pressure on Siġġiewi who controlled their advantage till the final buzzer.

Depiro: R. Vella 15, N. Sultana 5, K. Kun, A. Aquilina 3, A. Portelli 2, D. Agius 8, E. Lupo, M. Mallia, I. Tanti 2, S. Morgan 22.

Siġġiewi: R. Agius, L. Ross 5, L. Camilleri 2, S. Shoults 7, E. Xuereb 2, A. Borg 8, C. Maier 22, A. Fekete 4, A. Mijatovic 17.

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

Next fixtures
Saturday: 4.30 p.m. Loyola vs Luxol.
Sunday: 1 p.m. Floriana vs Depiro; 4.30 p.m. Siġġiewi vs Athleta.