Athleta, Siġġiewi and Floriana booked a place in the semi-finals of the men’s Louis Borg Cup after victories over Depiro, Mellieħa and Starlites. Luxol are the other side still in competition.
Royce Floriana 143
Starlites 106
(Leg Scores: 66-55, 77-51)
A difficult fourth quarter on Friday was Starlites’ downfall in this match-up as Floriana, though having a couple of regulars missing, were still good enough to down their opponents.
Starlites led the opening session 13-11 but the Greens recovered for a 29-28 lead at half-time.
The first leg was a balanced affair as both sides started the last session locked at 42-all.
Starlites shot ahead 49-45 but Floriana hit a fine patch (13-1) that took the fight off their valid opponents.
Playmaker Peter Shoults and pivot Sassoun Saakian made their presence felt for the Greens who took an 11-point lead into the second leg (66-55).
On Sunday, pivot Dirk Schembri was back and with Derek Elston showing better form, Floriana took control to change ends 35-25 ahead.
Exchanges were shared in the next quarter but any hopes Starlites might have had to at least winning this leg were lost when Floriana potted 12 successive points that paved the way for their 77-51 victory.
Remax Siġġiewi 182
Mellieħa Tritons 101
(Leg Scores: 84-47, 98-54)
This was an easy ride for Siġġiewi at the expense of second division outfit Mellieħa who had problems to keep their opponents’ lofty pivot Ivo Hoeger under check.
In Friday’s first leg, Siġġiewi imposed their game right from the start and after opening a 25-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, they extended that advantage to 51-24 at half-time.
Siġġiewi continued where they had left off after the break and despite coach Karl Borg finding time to introduce his substitutes, Mellieħa were never able to pro-duce some kind of resistance.
With Hoeger again very much in evidence on Sunday (he finished with 81 points over the two legs), Siġġiewi cruised to another clear-cut win even though this time Mellieħa showed slightly better fare.
The team from the top flight went in for the break 32-22 in front but stepped up their game in the third session to open a 63-31 lead.
Perhaps, Mellieħa’s only source of solace was the fact that they prevented their opponents from hitting the 100-point jackpot.
Athleta A-Z Electronics 134
Pavi Depiro 110
(Leg Scores: 74-57, 60-53)
More was expected from Depiro after their good showings in the league, but after sharing the exchanges for the first three quarters of the opening leg, they lowered their guard, allowing Athleta to built a comfortable lead.
In fact, Athleta only enjoyed a narrow one-point lead at the break (30-29) and before the last ten-minute session got underway Depiro were only trailing by three points (46-43).
But then, it seems that Depiro forgot that this competition is played over two legs and they started to hurry their attacks. This plot played into Athleta’s hands as Chad Patus showed his prowess in the zone, winning a series of rebounds that saw his side going 17 points clear at the end of the day.
Sunday’s second leg was heralded by a Depiro three-pointer but Athleta reacted strongly and by half-time they were leading 36-15.
With a place in the last four practically in their bags, Athleta gave some playing time to their fringe players with Depiro taking advantage to make the score more respectable.