Athleta A-Z Electronics 63
Siġġiewi 48

(21-11, 13-10, 12-14, 17-13)

In a low-scoring match, leaders Athleta registered their sixth victory to secure a place in the play-offs.

Despite the setback, Siġġiewi are still in contention, along with Luxol and Depiro, for the other two berths even though they must show pro-gress to achieve that goal.

Last weekend, Siġġiewi’s shooting left much to be desired with Marco Matijevic guilty of missing easy sitters from underneath the board.

Siġġiewi started the match on a bright note but they soon lost their early sparkle, allowing Athleta to take the initiative and change ends 34-21 in the lead.

The start to the third session saw Siġġiewi opening fast and reducing the gap to eight points.

However, a poor patch of bad passing and two technical fouls against halted Siġġiewi’s stride.

Athleta recovered and Steve Schembri led the way for his team by potting four free-throws (46-35).

Siġġiewi were unable to recover after that as Athleta, despite a threatening fouls situation, administered their lead wisely to seal victory.

Athleta: D. Bugeja 6, M. Todorovic 17, M. Giusti, S. Hagul, O. Said 15, S. Pace, W. Spiteri, K. Baldacchino 6, S. Schembri 19, S. Bischoff.

Siġġiewi: N. Falzon, P. Shoults 4, E. Xuereb 7, A. Borg 10, D. Ross, C. Meier 13, A. Fekete 6, J. Jetson, M. Matjevic 8.

Referees: B. Vassallo, E. Mangani, A. Carbonaro.

PAVI Depiro 57
Floriana Francesco Fenech 70

(15-18, 6-15, 16-25, 20-12)

Both teams were all out for victory as the race for the three berths in the play-offs becomes more tense.

In the end, it was Floriana who achieved their aim as Depiro could not repeat their performances of late.

With Matt Glass a dominating figure for the team, the Greens were more accurate from outside the arch and in the end their five three-pointers made all the difference.

Depiro, with Andrew Aquilina back in the side, were the ones who started better but as the minutes ticked by Floriana came more into the picture and at half-time they were already leading 33-21.

With Depiro’s reaction failing to materialise, Floriana pulled further away (46-27) after the interval to start the last ten minutes with a comfortable 58-37 lead.

Depiro had a good start to the last quarter to reduce the gap to 58-45. But Floriana opted for a time-out and the move left its desired effect as they surpassed a difficult moment before cantering home to victory.

Depiro: R. Vella 2, A. Aquilina, A. Portelli 4, D. Agius 5, E. Lupo 2, M. Mallia, I. Tanti 14, S. Morgan 30.

Floriana: A. Baldacchino, B. Scott Camilleri 13, D. Camilleri 4, M. Glass 22, C. Sammut 16, I. Mercieca 3, C. Calleja, D. Schembri 12, S. Saakian.

Referees: G. Barbara, C. Terribile, S. Gouder.

BUPA Luxol 69
Loyola Tata Motors 79

(16-13, 19-21, 11-21, 23-24)

Dominique Mazzocchi potted 47 points as Loyola, under the charge of coach Joe Zammit, at last obtained their first victory of the season to seriously dent Luxol’s play-offs chances.

So far this has been an inconsistent campaign for Luxol and although new signing Adrian Micallef upped his game signi-ficantly it was still not enough for them to avoid this embarrassing defeat.

Luxol won the opening quarter and also led, albeit with a slim one-point margin, at half-time (35-34). But then Loyola came back strongly to forge ahead 53-41.

They held on to start the last ten minutes leading 55-46.

Luxol cut the leeway to four points (55-51) but were unable to maintain the momentum for long as Loyola recovered poise with Mazzocchi leading them to a deserved victory.

BUPA Luxol: C.J. Cordina, M. Mercieca 4, A. Micallef 14, S. Shackleford 31, J.P. Schembri 3, N. Vasovic 13, T. Paris, A. Micallef Trigona, E. Bonello, J.P. Bonnici 4, S. Capello.

Loyola: I. Buldakov, B. Zammit 8, A. Sarrio, C. Cassar, S. Borg, L. Azzopardi, S. Vella 4, A. Axiaq 8, J.P. Azzopardi 12, J. Ransley, D. Mazzocchi 47.

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

Standings: Athleta 13 (6-1), Floriana 12 (5-2), Depiro 10 (3-4), Luxol 10 (3-4), Siġġiewi 10 (3-4), Loyola 8 (1-6).

Top-scorers: S. Shackleford (Luxol) 230, S. Morgan (Depiro) 203, M. Todorovic (Athleta) 142, C. Meier (Siġġiewi) 125, O. Said (Athleta) 111.

National League: (Saturday) 16.30 Siġġiewi vs Loyola. (Sunday) 13.00 Floriana vs Athleta, 16.30 Luxol vs Depiro.