Starlites completed an early double over ReMax Siġġiewi, following up their pre-season win with another success that earned them a place in the semi-finals of the BOV Knock-Out. Pavi Depiro had the better of BUPA Luxol in extra-time. Athleta A to Z Electronics and Royce Floriana were awarded a bye.

Pavi Depiro 89
Bupa Luxol 79

(19-25, 18-18, 13-16, 23-14, 16-6)

Luxol were six seconds away from a place in the KO semi-finals when Depiro pivot Anton Axiaq was fouled underneath the board. Tension was high as Luxol led by a single point.

Axiaq missed the first free-throw but potted the second to force-extra time.

Bolstered by that late salvo, Depiro dominated in extra-time with American player Turrel Morris proving unstoppable.

Luxol were off to a strong start, going on a 19-3 break to forge 25-9 ahead.

A time-out by Depiro coach Mario Tabone lifted his players. While Luxol lost their momentum, Depiro potted the last 10 points of the quarter to reduce the gap to six points, 25-19.

The start of the second session belonged to Luxol who increased their advantage to 30-21 but Depiro battled back to wipe away the deficit, going a basket ahead at 32-30.

It was now the turn of Luxol coach John Tabone to call a time-out.

Luxol regained their composure to change ends 43-37 ahead.

After extending their lead, 52-39, in the early stages of the third session, Luxol looked to be in a strong position but Depiro were not ready to lie down.

Their improved display helped them to narrow the gap to nine points ahead of the last quarter.

Depiro raised the tempo to tie the score at 61-all.

The excitement increased as the teams changed lead until Michael Myers Keitt put Luxol a point ahead, 73-72, only for Depiro to force extra-time thanks to Axiaq’s free-throw.

Luxol scored the first basket in extra-time but Depiro’s Morris then took matters in hand as his excellent shooting propelled his team 10 points clear of their shocked opponents.

Depiro: R. Vella 7, B. Zammit, N. Sultana 6, T. Morris 39, A. Aquilina 14, A. Portelli 8, S. Bartolo, A. Axiaq 10, E. Lupo, I. Tanti 5.

Luxol: C.J. Cordina 5, M. Mercieca 7, A. Micallef 15, C. Cassar, J.P. Schembri 14, N. Vasovic 6, T. Paris, M. Myers Keitt 32, J. Willoughby, J.P. Bonnici, S. Capello.

Referees: E. Mangani, S. Micallef, S. Gouder.

Starlites 59
Remax Siġġiewi 55

(11-6, 17-20, 16-18, 15-11)

After their positive performance against Floriana, more was expec-ted of Siġġiewi, moreso as they had playmaker Chris Sammut and pivot Marco Matijevic back from injury.

But, as in their pre-season meeting with Startlies, Siġġiewi were far from their best on Sunday.

They only have themselves to blame for this upset, albeit they were also undermined by a debatable decision from Finnish referee Teemu Helenius who ordered a technical foul against Alan Borg when Siġġiewi looked to have taken the initiative.

Siġġiewi’s inability to exploit Starlites’ foul situation in the last quarter was their downfall.

They opted for shots from outside the zone or three-pointers instead of passing to pivot Ivo Hoeger underneath the board.

Marco Todorovic was instrumental in obtaining Starlites’ final points despite being on four fouls.

Starlites also had top-scorer Robert Bonnici and playmaker Roberto Loporto on four fouls while Siġġiewi lost Louis Camilleri and Michael Mallia in the final quarter.

The game never reached any heights.

Both teams were inaccurate in their conclusions with Siġġiewi taking more than six minutes to open their account. Starlites failed to take advantage as they led 4-0.

After a time-out and substitutions, Siġġiewi seemed to have recovered but it was not to be as Starlites obtained the last seven points to end the first quarter 11-6 ahead.

After Starlites increased their lead to 15-8, Siġġiewi finally found their rhythm to close the gap to one point, 20-19, minutes from half-time. Starlites came back to change ends a basket ahead, 28-26.

Siġġiewi enjoyed a purple patch after the interval to open a 31-28 lead. Starlites potted 10 consecutive points to lead 42-38 but Siġġiewi again hit back to level at 44-all.

Siġġiewi’s hopes suffered a blow after Starlites opened a five-point advantage, 53-48.

As the confused Siġġiewi went for hurried shots, Starlites main-tained their slight lead until the final buzzer.

Starlites: M. Todorovic 18, R. Loporto 5, R. Bonnici 19, A. Schembri, S. Bonnici 10, J. Curmi, A. Cutajar, G. Szkerey 2, B. Soler 1, G. Colerio 4, M. Vassallo.

Siġġiewi: C. Doublet, A. Debattista, C. Sammut 14, S. Sammut 6, N. Falzon, L. Camilleri 3, A. Borg 2, L. Ross 11, J.P. Antoncich, I. Hoeger 13, M. Mallia, M. Mijatovic 6.

Referees: B. Vassallo, E. Mangani, T. Helenius.

Next fixtures
BOV League: Saturday, 4.30pm Floriana vs Athleta. Sunday, 1pm Depiro vs Luxol; 4.30pm Starlites vs Siġġiewi.