Athleta A to Z Electronics and Depiro Pavi will meet in the final of the Louis Borg Cup this coming weekend after ousting Siġġiewi and Floriana Francesco Fenech in the semis

Depiro 162
Floriana 150

(first leg: 91-73; second leg: 71-77 )

Depiro put one foot in the final after building an 18-point lead in the first leg of their semi-final against Floriana.

The Greens wilted under the pressure in the final minutes of the game with playmaker Chris Sammut struggling to make an impact when the going got tough for his team.

Several other Floriana players produced below-par performances in the opening leg.

Floriana have been involved in many high-scoring games but if they want to succeed, coach Paul Ferrante must improve his side’s defending.

Depiro, who had Nigel Sultana and Adrian Micallef missing, recovered from a slow start in the first leg to obtain a comprehensive victory.

It was Floriana who enjoyed the better opening to lead 13-4. Mario Tabone called a time-out which helped Depiro to settle as they reduced the deficit to a single basket by the end of the first quarter, 25-23.

The match developed into a balanced affair with Depiro exploiting Floriana’s passing errors to change ends 45-43 ahead.

With Floriana unable to reorganise their ranks, Depiro remained the better side, increasing their lead to 62-52 midway into the third quarter.

Ferrante effected several substitutions to refresh his team but Depiro held on to start the last 10 minutes 66-59 ahead.

For a while, Floriana gave the impression that they refound their rhythm as they narrowed the gap to 66-64 but this only lasted a few minutes.

After a time-out, Depiro gained control and, with Floriana growing increasingly edgy, Tabone’s team won the first leg 91-73.

One expected Floriana to go into the second leg with all guns blazing but it was Depiro who dominated the latter stages of the first quarter to lead 25-13.

Floriana improved in the second to level at 29-29 only for Depiro to come back and change ends 45-38 in front.

With a place in the final in sight, Depiro were content to administer their lead after the interval, allowing Floriana to take the initiative but keeping them at a distance.

A 77-71 win was not enough for Floriana to reach the final as Depiro went through on aggregate.

Depiro: R. Vella 33, A. Aquilina 14, A. Portelli 18, D. Agius 15, E. Lupo, M. Mallia 10, I. Tanti 16, S. Morgan 56.

Floriana: B. Scott Camilleri 10, D. Camilleri 6, C. Sammut 29, I. Mercieca 2, S. Sammut 6, C. Calleja 2, D. Schembri 29, P. Thomas 66, S. Saakian.

Athleta 130
Siġġiewi 118

(first leg: 62-48; second leg: 68-70)

Once more, Athleta’s superior movement in attack was Siġġiewi’s downfall. Even when the reigning champions go through a difficult moment, they still try to pass the ball around in attack and defend aggressively but not the same can be said of Siġġiewi.

They complicate matters for themselves by resorting to individual moves with little effect.

Both teams were missing players but Athleta’s shooting prowess from three-point line helped them to clinch a place in the final.

The referees had a tough and busy day on Sunday as they had to control three to four matches and still expected to keep high levels of concentration.

In the first leg, Athleta began to take advantage of Siġġiewi’s poor shooting percentage to go 20-8 ahead by the end of the first quarter.

Siġġiewi settled down as the second session got underway but they failed to make maximum profit from Athleta’s poor start who had to wait seven minutes to score their first points with two free-throws. Athleta recovered to lead 26-22 at half-time.

With Marco Matijevic guarded closely in attack, Siġġiewi depend a lot on Chris Maeir underneath the boards but his performance was fragmented as he gave up possession on several occasions.

Siġġiewi managed to forge 28-27 ahead four minutes into the third session. Athleta fought back to take a 40-36 lead for the last 10 minutes as Steve Schembri found his shooting touch.

With Siġġiewi in a state of confusion, Athleta pulled clear to open a 14-point lead, 62-48, ahead of the second leg.

The second meeting was balanced with Athleta controlling Siġġiewi’s early efforts to lead 19-16 at the end of the first quarter. Maeir was more efficient in attack, delivering several turnovers when it mattered.

Athleta lost playmaker Shawn Pace, fouled out, five minutes into the second session after an incident with Alan Borg. Nevertheless, Athleta stayed calm to change ends a basket ahead, 35-33.

Siġġiewi were more aggressive after the interval to open a 40-35 lead but their efforts were undermined by a series of lost possessions.

This allowed Athleta to protect their first-leg advantage, trailing 52-48 as the last 10 minutes began.

Hard as they tried, Siġġiewi failed to outsmart Athleta who lost the second leg 70-68 but won 130-118 on aggregate.

Athleta: M. Gauci Montaldo, M. Todorovic 31, M. Giusti, H. Soufian, O. Said 34, S. Pace 9, K. Baldacchino 18, S. Schembri 38.

Siġġiewi: R. Agius, P. Shoults 10, E. Xuereb 6, C. Agius 7, A. Borg 20, C. Maeir 43, A. Fekete 4, J. Jetsen 2, M. Matijevic 26.

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