Floriana 98
Luxol 81

(34-28, 18-22, 18-17, 28-14)

Floriana avenged their first-round extra-time defeat to Luxol after winning their second meeting.

Adrian Micallef, formerly of Depiro, had a quiet debut for Luxol.

When Floriana are in action, a high-scoring match is expected and this was no exception. The Greens had David Camilleri in fine shooting form while Luxol were over-reliant on Stephen Shackleford, the league’s top scorer. When Shackleford got tired in the last quarter, Floriana took advantage to clinch their fourth victory.

After Luxol obtained the first two baskets, Floriana battled back to open an 11-7 lead. Luxol staged a recovery to overhaul the deficit, going 14-13 ahead. Towards the fourth minute, Floriana found their shooting range to lead 34-28 at the end of the first quarter.

Through baskets from Nicola Vasovic and Shackleford, Luxol increased the pressure on Floriana who still managed to go in for half-time 52-50 ahead.

The game remained balanced in the third quarter with Floriana beginning the last 10 minutes with a three-point lead, 70-67.

Floriana tightened their marking on Shackleford who faltered as a result. With Matt Glass dominating underneath the boards, Floriana were able to extend their lead to 81-71 with five minutes remaining.

Luxol were now a confused lot and Floriana duly capitalised to secure an important victory.

Floriana: A. Baldacchino, B. Scott Camilleri 13, D. Camilleri 16, M. Glass 30, C. Sammut 15, I. Mercieca, C. Calleja 4, D. Schembri 20, S. Saakian.

Luxol: C.J. Cordina 2, M. Mercieca 4, J. Willoughby, S. Shackleford 47, J.P. Schembri 5, N. Vasovic 21, T. Paris, A. Micallef, J.P. Bonnici 2, S. Capello.

Referees: G. Barbara, E. Mangani, A. Carbonaro.

Siġġiewi 72
Depiro 85

(22-13, 14-15, 22-29, 14-28)

Depiro overcame the absence of shooter Andrew Aquilina to maintain their good run with a deserved win over Siġġiewi.

Their morale was sky-high after their surprise win over Athleta in the Louis Borg Cup final. Siġġiewi, led for the first time by former Loyola coach Alfred Mifsud, were unable to halt their negative streak as they fizzled out in the final four minutes.

With Chris Maeir producing another indifferent performance, Siġġiewi’s tactics were based on their pivot Marco Matijevic who, after an encouraging start, fluffed several easy baskets that might have changed the course of the game.

After a shaky start, Depiro recovered after the interval while Siġġiewi lost their composure.

With Matijevic effective underneath the board, Siġġiewi enjoyed a good opening to lead 13-7. Despite Depiro’s improvement, Siġġiewi finished the quarter 22-13 ahead.

With five minutes left for half-time, Siġġiewi held on to their lead, 30-20. At this stage, a series of erratic passes by playmaker Alan Borg and Peter Shoults and missed opportunities by Maeir allowed Depiro to remain in touch until half-time, 36-28

Siġġiewi’s defence began to concede more space and Depiro punished their mistakes to forge ahead.

With Shaun Morgan and Isaac Tanti improving their shooting performance, Depiro managed to edge 41-40 ahead by the fourth minute of the third quarter.

After falling five points behind, 49-44, Siġġiewi fought back to start the last 10 minutes a point ahead, 58-57.

With one team, and then the other, in front, the score was tied at 67-all with five minutes left. Here Siġġiewi buckled under the pressure and several free-throws and anti-sporting fouls helped Depiro to pull away as their captain Roderick Vella was precise from the free throw line.

Siġġiewi looked stunned as Depiro dominated the final minutes.

Siġġiewi: N. Falzon, P. Shoults 9, E. Xuereb, C. Agius, A. Borg 13, D. Ross, C. Maeir 19, A. Fekete 8, M. Matijevic 23.

Depiro: R. Vella 22, K. Kuns, A. Portelli 3, D. Agius 13, E. Lupo, M. Mallia 2, I. Tanti 12, S. Morgan 33.

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

Loyola 58
Athleta 67

(15-16, 12-18, 18-17, 13-16)

Joe Zammit made his debut as Loyola coach but his new team failed to gain their first victory as leaders Athleta grabbed the points despite the absence of the injured Kristen Baldacchino and Marco Todorovic’s below-par performance.

Dominique Mazzocchi, Loyola’s new foreigner, improved after his somewhat disappointing debut.

After Athleta went 7-1 ahead, Loyola bounced back to reduce the gap to a point at the end of the quarter, 16-15.

Once again, Athleta made the better start to the second session to stretch their lead to eight points, 27-19. They retained their advantage until half-time, 34-27.

Loyola managed to level at 34-all after the interval but Athleta came back to start the last 10 minutes 51-45 ahead.

Loyola’s efforts in the final session proved futile as they were unable to cancel out the deficit with Athleta sealing their win in the closing minutes.

Loyola: I. Buldakov, B. Zammit 8, A. Serrio, C. Cassar 2, S. Borg, L. Azzopardi, S. Vella 2, A. Axiaq 13, J.P. Azzopardi 4, J. Ransley, D. Mazzocchi 29.

Athleta: D. Bugeja 18, M. Todorovic 8, M. Giusti, S. Hagul, O. Said 14, S. Pace 8, W. Spiteri, C. Bischoff, S. Schembri 19.

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

Standings: Athleta 11 (5-1); Floriana 10 (4-2); Depiro 9 (3-3); Luxol 9 (3-3); Siġġiewi 9 (3-3); Loyola 6 (0-6).

Top scorers: S. Shackleford (Luxol) 214; S. Morgan (Depiro) 173; M. Todorovic (Athleta) 125; C. Maeir (Siġġiewi) 112; N. Vasovic (Luxol) 105.

Next fixtures: Saturday 16.30 Depiro vs Floriana. Sunday 13.00 Luxol vs Loyola; 16.30 Siġġiewi vs Athleta.