There are no teams left with an unbeaten record in the men’s top flight as champions Athleta A-Z Electronics and BUPA Luxol conceded defeats to Floriana Francesco Fenech and Depiro Pavi respectively, last weekend.

Athleta A-Z Electronics 80
Floriana Fran. Fenech 85
(16-31, 27-19, 24-13, 13-22)

Athleta have another injury pro-blem to deal with as David Bugeja is likely to be out for a few weeks.

However, that takes nothing from Floriana’s win as four teams are now sharing top place in the standings.

Athleta had a difficult start and ten consecutive points saw Floriana 15-3 ahead. However, after a time-out, Joe Galea’s team looked better and, spearheaded by Omar Said and Marco Todorovic, they shared the exchanges with their opponents who changed ends 50-43 in front.

A 12-2 break midway through the third quarter saw the champions taking a 64-61 lead as Floriana lost pivot Dirk Schembri for a fifth foul.

Athleta looked on their way as they extended their lead to 75-66 with five minutes left. However, the match took a different twist when Todorovic had to leave court.

Floriana staged a stirring rally and it was all over for Athleta when Said got disqualified.

Galea’s men, having done so well up to that stage with the few options they had, lost their plot and Floriana profited to seal a shock victory, their first over the champions.

Athleta: C. Gauci Montaldo, M. Todorovic 23, M. Giusti 4, S. Haugel, O. Said 23, S. Pace 6, K. Baldacchino 7, S. Schembri 17, M. Karsten.

Floriana: B. Scott Camilleri 17, D. Camilleri 5, C. Sammut 21, I. Mercieca 5, C. Calleja, D. Schembri 12, P. Thomas 19, M. Ciantar, S. Saakian 6.

Refs: E. Mangani, C. Terribile, L. Camilleri.

Depiro Pavi 77
Bupa Luxol 62
(17-11, 19-11, 23-26, 18-14)

Shawn Morgan was back and his presence left its mark as Depiro lowered Luxol’s colours, the US player contributing with 28 points.

Luxol were let down by their poor shooting from outside the arch and to add to their troubles, they had captain Marco Mercieca foul-hit early in the match.

Depiro enjoyed the more enter-prising opening and despite the several changes from Luxol’s John Tabone, the team led by Mario Tabone held the initiative and led 36-22 at half-time.

Luxol were more determined after the interval but after reducing the gap to 38-32, they were let down by their shooting form.

Depiro applied some tactical changes and a triple by Andrew Aquilina saw them starting the last ten minutes 59-48 in front.

Luxol, particularly Stephen Shackleford, tried hard to get back in contention but an 8-0 run by Depiro dashed all their hopes to seal their first victory after two successive upsets.

Depiro: R. Vella 13, N. Sultana 12, K. Kun, A. Aquilina 14, A. Portelli 2, D. Agius, A. Micallef, E. Lupo 4, M. Mallia, I. Tanti 4, S. Morgan 28.

Luxol: C.J. Cordina, M. Mercieca 1, E. Bonello, J. Willoughby, S. Shackleford 36, J.P. Schembri, N. Vasovic 10, T. Paris 5, J.P. Bonnici 8, S. Capello 2.

Refs: G. Barbara, C. Terribile, L. Camilleri.

Loyola Tata Motors 40
Siġġiewi 56
(4-20, 11-14, 13-13, 12-9)

The opening minutes of this match were almost decisive.

In fact, Siġġiewi potted 15 con-secutive points to open a comfort-able lead which they never forfeited despite Loyola having Spaniard Antonio Sarrio in fine form.

It took Loyola eight minutes to pot their first basket as Siġġiewi continued to show their best in that early juncture. Sarrio them came to the fore and injected some life into Loyola who reduced the gap to 34-15 at half-time.

The match developed into a scrappy affair with Siġġiewi happy to administer their lead.

Loyola doubled their efforts in the last quarter of the match but after having reduced the margin to ten points, 50-40, they were unable to sustain their push as Siġġiewi clicked into gear in time to avoid any mishaps.

Loyola: I. Buldakov, B. Zammit 3, A. Sarrio 16, C. Cassar 1, S. Borg 2, L. Azzopardi, S. Vella, A. Axiaq 8, J.P. Azzopardi 4, M. Grech, J. Ransley 4, J. Evans 2.

Siġġiewi: R. Agius, L. Ross 8, P. Shoults 24, E. Xuereb 4, C. Agius, A. Borg, C. Meier 8, A. Fekete 2, M. Matijevic 10.

Refs: A. Carbonaro, C. Terribile, L. Camilleri.

Standings
Athleta (2-1) 5, Luxol (2-1) 5, Siġġiewi (2-1) 5, Floriana (2-1) 5, Depiro (1-2) 4, Loyola (0-3) 3.

Top scorers: S. Shackleford (Luxol) 103, S. Morgan (Depiro) 82, P. Thomas (Floriana) 74, M. Todorovic (Athleta) 69, O. Said (Athleta) 61.

Next fixtures
Louis Borg Cup, first legs, Saturday – 1 p.m. Siġġiewi vs Luxol, 4.30 a.m. Loyola vs Athleta.
Second legs, Sunday – 1 p.m. Luxol vs Siġġiewi, 4.30 p.m. Athleta vs Luxol.