Floriana held their nerve to win their first national basketball title after beating defending champions Athleta 74-71 in yesterday’s fifth and decisive game. With the final series level at 2-2, Athleta, who had twice recovered from a game down, looked on course to retain the title as they led 36-29 at half-time but an 8-0 run at the start of the third session swayed the balance in Floriana’s favour. Inspired by Chris Sammut and Bevan Scott Camilleri, the Greens went on to build a 13-point advantage in the last session but Athleta refused to give up. They produced a stirring fightback, going on a 14-0 run to move one point ahead but Dirk Schembri’s late basket proved crucial for Floriana. Sammut hit 20 points for the winners, eight fewer than Athleta’s Marco Todorovic who was the game’s top scorer. At the end of the match, Floriana captain Ian Mercieca received the BOV National League trophy from Stefan Buontempo, the Parliamentary Secretary for Sport.