Athleta A-Z Electronics 79
Royce Floriana 62

(26-14, 17-14, 13-23, 23-11)

Floriana had to win this match to keep their slim hopes of reaching the play-offs alive but their task was made more difficult when presenting only six players as David Camilleri, Peter Shoults and Omar Shamala were all unavailable along with Sassoun Saakian.

With Michael Naudi and Steve Schembri in fine shooting form, Athleta led right from the jumpball. At times, though, they found it hard to control Floriana’s reaction, particularly in the third quarter.

Floriana fumbled several possessions in the initial stages as Athleta forged into a 20-10 lead. The Pembroke team continued to dictate matters with Floriana unable to settle on court and Derek Elston under a tight scrutiny.

At the break Athleta led 43-28.

Floriana looked a different team after the interval as Elston came more into the picture with pivot Dirk Schembri behind most of his team’s moves.

In fact, the Greens hit back strongly to re-open the issue as they were only five points behind at the end of the quarter – 56-51.

But Athleta regained the upperhand and with Floriana visibly tiring out, they scored the points that mattered to secure their sixth win from eight matches.

Athleta: M. Naudi 22, D. Bugeja 14, C. Patus 14, C. Galea, W. Spiteri, O. Said 7, S. Pace 3, D. Ross, S. Bischoff 4, S. Schembri 15.

Floriana: D. Elston 20, S. Borg 4, B. Zammit 10, C. Calleja 1, D. Schembri 27, D. Agius.

Referees: B. Vassallo, C. Terribile, S. Micallef.

BUPA Luxol 85
PAVI Depiro 87

(12-18, 21-22, 16-23, 36-24)

Though having Abraham Portelli missing, Depiro were still good enough to beat Luxol whose place in the play-offs is still not sealed.

For most of the match, Depiro were the better team even though they sometimes struggled to keep towering pivot Samuel Deguara in check. Michael Meyers Keitt had another quiet outing according to his standards as Depiro’s Mathew Adekponya is gradually adapting to the local game.

Depiro took an early lead but Luxol’s reaction arrived as the second session got underway, managing to overturn the result and lead by a point, 29-28. After a time-out, Depiro showed better qualities and changed ends 40-33 ahead.

Perhaps, Luxol’s downfall arrived in the last part of the third quarter when Depiro’s 23-4 run saw them starting the last five minutes with a cushion 63-49 lead after a series of successful three-pointers.

Luxol were not finished though and doubled their efforts to save the match.

They managed to halve the deficit to eight points and as they kept pressing John Tabone’s players also scored four three-pointers to move just a single basket behind. However, in the end Luxol’s comeback bid was not completed as they ran out of time and energy.

Luxol: C.J. Cordina 13, M. Mercieca 6, A. Micallef 7, N. Andrevic, J. Willoughby, J.P. Schembri 1, N. Vasovic 8, M. Meyers Keitt 17, S. Deguara 33, S. Capello.

Depiro: R. Vella 19, M. Adekponya 27, N. Sultana, A. Aquilina 12, S. Bartolo 11, A. Axiaq 4, E. Lupo 2, I. Tanti 12, M. Agius.

Referees: E. Mangani, S. Micallef, T. Helenius.

Remax Siġġiewi 78
Starlites 46

(16-17, 19-8, 23-11, 20-10)

Siġġiewi needed victory to make sure of a play-off place and they achieved their goal with something to spare notwithstanding the fact that they conceded innumerable turnovers that could have proved costly against stronger opponents.

After opening a 10-5 lead, Siġġiewi allowed Starlites to recover and finish the quarter 17-16 ahead. The two-minute interval came at the right moment for Siġġiewi who regrouped to open a 28-19 advantage.

But Siġġiewi were unable to shrug aside their erratic play and Starlites took advantage to come within three points, 28-25. After a time-out and substitutions, Siġġiewi looked more settled and changed ends 35-25 ahead.

Siġġiewi were now in cruise mode and found little difficulty in the next two quarters with Starlites contributing to their downfall with slack positional play and a shaky defence.

Siġġiewi: C. Maier 11, A. Debattista, S. Sammut 11, E. Xuereb, L. Camilleri 6, A. Borg 2, L. Ross 20, J.P. Antoncich, I. Hoeger 18, M. Mallia 4, M. Matijevic 6.

Starlites: M. Todorovic 14, R. Loporto 7, R. Bonnici 9, A. Schembri 4, S. Bonnici 8, J. Curmi, A. Cutajar, B. Soler, J. Zammit, G. Coleiro 4.

Referees: E. Mangani, S. Micallef, T. Helenius.

Standings: Athleta 14 (6-2), Depiro 14 (6-2), Siġġiewi 13 (5-3), Luxol 12 (4-4), Floriana 10 (2-6), Starlites 9 (1-7).

Top scorers: M. Meyers Keitt (Luxol) 238, D. Elston (Floriana) 210, M. Todorovic (Starlites) 198, C. Patus (Athleta) 173, I. Hoeger (Siġġiewi) 141.

BOV KO final: (Sunday) 16.30 Athleta A-Z vs Depiro.