[attach id=238431 size="medium"]BUPA Luxol were unable to secure a berth in the play-offs last weekend. Photo: Paul Zammit Cutajar[/attach]

Siġġiewi 77
Floriana Francesco Fenech 91

(15-17, 22-23, 27-21, 13-30)

Floriana made the most of Siġġiewi’s fragile nerves to retain the leadership in the regular season.

Jacques Abang had a quiet debut as referee in the top division as Floriana opened as the stronger team but Siġġiewi hit back to trail by a basket at the end of the quarter 17-15.

Towards the middle of the second session, Floriana potted six consecutive points to hold a 30-21 lead. Siġġiewi, however, regrouped to reduce the gap to three points, 40-37, at half-time.

When Floriana appeared to be in control after extending their lead to 51-42, Siġġiewi hit a run of 12 points without reply. The Greens surpassed this difficult moment but still trailed 64-61 at the start of the last ten minutes.

The matched developed into a balanced affair until four minutes from the end when Siġġiewi’s Alan Borg was fouled out and captain Eman Xuereb was handed a technical foul. At that point the teams were level at 77-all.

Bevan Scott Camilleri, who had another postive match, potted all four free-throws to put Floriana ahead. Siġġiewi lost composure and another technical foul, this time against Peter Shoults, spelt their downfall.

Siġġiewi: N. Falzon, P. Shoults 26, E. Xuereb 7, A Borg 7, D. Ross, C. Meier 22, A. Fekete 4, M. Matijevic 11.

Floriana: A. Baldacchino, B. Scott Camilleri 31, D. Camilleri, M. Glass 18, C. Sammut 10, I. Mercieca 4, C. Calleja 7, D. Schembri 21.

Referees: G. Barbara, E. Mangani, J. Abang.

Athleta A-Z Electronics 76
BUPA Luxol 68

(18-14, 16-12, 17-23, 25-19)

This was a must-win match for Luxol but Athleta were doing them no favours. Luckily for Luxol, other results went in their favour to stay in contention and now face Siġġiewi in a decisive match next Sunday.

Luxol had rebounder Jean Paul Bonnici missing but still showed an improvement on their last outings.

However, they had Stephen Shackleford fouled out in a crucial stage of the match.

The opening two quarters were evenly shared but it was Athleta who obtained the last seven points to change ends 34-26 ahead.

Luxol had a good patch midway through the third quarter to start the last ten minutes a basket adrift – 51-49.

Luxol continued where they had left off as the last quarter started to open a 58-53 lead.

Athleta took a time-out and this helped to restore confidence. Shackleford committed his fifth foul with four minutes left and that put Athleta in the driving seat for their seventh win from nine matches.

Athleta: S. Hagul, D. Bugeja 13, M. Todorovic 12, M. Giusti, O. Said 16, S. Pace 5, W. Spiteri, K. Baldacchino 11, S. Bischoff 4, S. Schembri 15.

Luxol: J.P. Cordina 2, M. Mercieca 6, A. Micallef 13, J. Willoughby, S. Shackleford 13, J.P. Schembri, N. Vasovic 24, T. Paris 10, E. Bonello, S. Capello.

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

Loyola Tata Motors 43
Pavi Depiro 68

(11-15, 9-14, 12-20, 11-19)

Depiro booked their place in the play-offs after beating a weakened Loyola side who had Jean Paul Azzopardi missing through suspension and pivots Jonathan Ransley and Antoine Axiaq out injured.

The match had a slow start but the equilibrium was broken in the last minutes before the interval as Depiro opened a 29-20 lead.

Any hopes Loyola had of a surprise result were dashed in the third quarter as Depiro took control to start the last ten minutes with a comfortable 49-32 advantage.

Loyola were down and out as Depiro planted a series of of three-pointers late on to round up their victory.

Loyola: B. Zammit, A. Sarrio 2, C. Cassar 9, S. Borg 4, L. Azzopardi, S. Vella, D. Mazzocchi 28.

Depiro: R. Vella 13, K. Kuns 2, A. Aquilina 9, D. Agius 9, E. Lupo 2, M. Mallia 2, I. Tanti 14, S. Morgan 17.

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

Standings
Floriana 16 (7-2), Athleta 16 (7-2), Depiro 14 (5-4), Siġġiewi 13 (4-5), Luxol 12 (3-6), Loyola 10 (1-8).

Top scorers
S. Shackleford (Luxol) 281, S. Morgan (Depiro) 250, M. Todorovic (Athleta) 181, C. Meier (Siġġiewi).

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