Athleta A to Z Electronics came out on top in the third and decisive match of their semi-final against ReMax Siġġiewi to set up a title showdown against rivals BUPA Luxol. The first match from the best-of-five series is scheduled for Sunday.

Michael Naudi (front) played a key role in Athleta’s win over Siġġiewi last weekend. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Athleta A-Z Elect. 87
ReMax Siġġiewi 80

(26-14, 18-31, 25-24, 18-11)

After a promising start, Athleta had to rally in the last session to secure their place in the final with Michael Naudi and Chad Patus playing a key role in their victory.

Athleta’s more aggressive defence was also crucial to their success.

Marco Matijevic produced his best performance for Siġġiewi this season but an unnecessary fourth foul in the third quarter under-mined his efforts.

The towering Ivo Hoeger could have done better and it was a surprise that he stayed on court for the final minutes. Athleta took full advantage as loose defending by Chris Maier and Lee Ross did not help Siġġiewi’s cause.

Playmaker Ross had his moments but missed an easy lay-up and delivered several soft passes.

With Siġġiewi making a slow start, Athleta potted the opening points.

Siġġiewi looked to have recovered as they closed the gap to a single basket, 7-5, but tension crept into their game.

This enabled Athleta to regain control. Needless protests from Steve Sammut and Alan Borg further complicated their task as they incurred two technical fouls.

Athleta raced 26-11 ahead with Siġġiewi narrowng the gap with a three-pointer.

Joe Galea, the Athleta coach, left Patus on the bench at the start of the second session.

The two-minute break helped Siġġiewi, especially Sammut, to regain his composure. Unfortu-nately for Siġġiewi, he was unable to continue after picking up an injury, having just netted a basket.

It was now the turn of the Athleta coach to protest and suffer a technical foul. Siġġiewi grew in confidence. A three-pointer from Ross propelled them 31-28 in front after three minutes.

Athleta called a time-out and the return of Patus helped them to surpass this difficult moment as they shared the exchanges with Siġġiewi.

A mistake by Maier in the dying seconds allowed Athleta to close the gap to one point, 45-44, at the interval.

After a balanced opening to the third quarter, Siġġiewi managed to open a seven-point lead, 66-59, but as happens so often, they opted for fancy stuff.

Athleta punished them with a 10-2 break to lead 69-68. A Hoeger free-throw levelled the score for the last 10 minutes, 69-all.

The result remained in the balance until the final minutes when erratic passing and wrong shooting choices allowed the experienced Athleta to mount fast breaks and put the issue beyond doubt.

Athleta: M. Naudi 23, D. Bugeja 11, C. Patus 30, C. Galea, O. Said 9, S. Pace 5, D. Ross, K. Baldacchino 2, S. Bischoff, S. Schembri 7.

Siġġiewi: A. Debattista, S. Sammut 7, C. Maier 13, E. Xuereb 2, L. Camilleri 6, A. Borg 1, L. Ross 20 , J.P. Antoncich,I. Hoeger 21, M. Mallia, M. Matijevic 10.

Referees: B. Vassallo, C. Terribile, T. Helenius.

Next fixtures
BOV League final play-off (game one): Sunday 16.30 Athleta vs Luxol.
St James Hospital Women’s League final play-off (game one): Sunday 14.45 Athleta vs Luxol.