BUPA Luxol and Floriana Café Del Mar obtained hard-earned victories over ReMax Siġġiewi Citadel and PAVI Depiro to join A to Z Electronics Athleta and Virtus Cynergi in the semi-finals of the St James Hospital Shield, to be played on Sunday.

Luxol turned the tables on Siġġiewi in the final session to reach the semi-finals of the MBA Shield. Photo: Matthew MirabelliLuxol turned the tables on Siġġiewi in the final session to reach the semi-finals of the MBA Shield. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

BUPA Luxol 81
Remax Siġġiewi Citadel75

(16-21, 18-17, 18-24, 29-13)

Luxol’s efforts in the final quarter earned them a place in the semi-finals of the St James Hospital Shield.

Siġġiewi had led for most of the game but lost the plot after Luxol switched to full-court press.

With former Floriana player Billy Zammit making his debut, Siġġiewi were first out of the blocks to open an early 13-3 lead.

After a time-out, Luxol improved to share the exchanges until the end of the first quarter which ended with Siġġiewi 21-16 in front.

After a balanced start to the second session, six consecutive points extended Siġġiewi’s advantage to 31-20 only for Luxol to fight back in the closing minutes. They changed ends four points behind, 38-34.

After the interval, Siġġiewi retained a slight edge to re-establish a 10-point cushion, starting the last 10 minutes 62-52 ahead.

Luxol coach John Tabone instructed his players to press Siġġiewi across the court in a bid to shift the game’s momentum in his side’s favour.

This move caught Siġġiewi by surprise as they squandered several possessions with Luxol taking full advantage.

Led by top-scorer Orlando Rutledge and youngster Chris Cordina, Luxol levelled at 67-all before opening a six-point advantage, 79-73, which they preserved until the final whistle.

Luxol: C.J. Cordina 16, A. Portelli 10, J. Willoughby, A. Borg, J.P. Schembri 3, O. Rutledge 44, A. Micallef Trigona 4, J.P. Bonnici 4, S. Capello.

Siġġiewi: B. Zammit 4, J.P. Antoncich, S. Sammut 9, E. Xuereb 4, A. Micallef 18, B. Bartolo 4, R. Carabott, M. Mallia 2, K. Tribette 34.

Referees: B. Vassallo, E. Mangani, L. Camilleri.

Pavi Depiro 53
Floriana Café Del Mar 67

(16-12, 12-18, 19-13, 6-24)

Floriana, who replaced American player Christopher Montgomery with Nick Oudendag, found it hard to see off the bold challenge of the young Depiro team.

It was only in the last seven minutes that Floriana broke Depiro’s strong resistance.

Oudendag failed to leave a positive impression in his first appearance, although his performance improved in the final minutes. Floriana sorely missed pivot Dirk Schembri.

Depiro’s youngsters are improving with every match. Their shooters were in form, upstaging their Floriana counterparts for most of the game, but their inexperience let them down in those crucial closing stages.

Floriana were 8-4 up by the fifth minute but were pushed back by Depiro’s reaction.

After the Greens had to substitute Oudendag and Marco Mercieca, on three and four fouls respectively, Depiro, who had Sasooun Saakian making his debut, duly exploited the situation to lead 16-12 at the end of the first quarter.

Balance prevailed in the second period.

Floriana had Lee Ross sent off for two technical fouls.

Despite this setback, Floriana’s shooting improved as they moved 30-28 ahead after nailing a three-pointer before the half-time buzzer.

Depiro had the better start after the interval, potting six consecutive points to lead 34-30. This prompted Floriana coach Christof Stolph to bring back Oudendag and veteran Mercieca but Depiro remained confident.

They had a slender four-point lead, 47-43, going into the final 10 minutes.

Depiro seemed capable of controlling their lead as they went 51-45 in front, but suddenly, Floriana found their rhythm.

Through recovered rebounds, the Greens went on to score 19 consecutive points to shatter the optimism of Depiro players who lost their shooting accuracy and con-centration.

Depiro: J. Attard 2, S. Saakian 2, D. Schembri 2, R. Rizzo 3, T. Zammit 9, N. Grech, M. Todorovic 11, R. Zammit, S. Zammit 20, N. Xuereb 2, M. Borg 2, R. Grima.

Floriana: N. Oudendag 14, M. Mercieca 6, L. Ross 8, N. Sultana 5, S. Borg, N. Vasovic 16, C. Calleja, O. Shamala 4, D. Agius 14.

Referees: G. Barbara, E. Mangani, Z. Dobrosavljevic.

Group A: Athleta 4 (2-0), Floriana 3 (1-1), Depiro 2 (0-2).

Group B: Virtus 4 (2-0), Luxol 3(1-1), Siġġiewi 2 (0-2).

Next fixtures
St James Hospital Shield semi-finals (Sunday): 13.00 Virtus vs Floriana; 16.30 Athleta vs Luxol.

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