Action from the Louis Borg Cup tie between Athleta and Depiro. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

The preliminary round from the Louis Borg Cup, played over two legs, produced no surprises as favourites Athleta A-Z Electronics, Virtus Cynergi and BUPA Luxol joined Floriana Café Del Mar in the semi-finals.

Athleta A-Z Electronics 165
PAVI Depiro 134

(89-64, 76-70)

Athleta were streets ahead of the young Depiro team who played better in the second leg but ultimately had to bow to their more experienced opponents.

Athleta paved the way towards victory in the opening leg following a fine patch five minutes before the interval to change ends 59-33 ahead.

Depiro were unable to apply any kind of pressure on Athleta who continued to pull away in the third quarter 80-44.

With such a healthy lead, Athleta introduced their substitutes, allowing Depiro to come more into the picture and reduce the gap to 89-64 at the final whistle.

Athleta coach Joe Galea again opted to give more playing time to his fringe players in the second leg on Monday.

Depiro played better but at half-time they still lagged behind 39-33.

Depiro, however, grew in stature and arrived to within a point behind Athleta – 46-45.

But Galea’s men hit back strongly to start the last ten minutes enjoying an eight-point lead (61-53), a position which they never relinquished.

Virtus Cynergi 169
Remax Siġġiewi Citadel 126

(84-63, 85-63)

Though still without pivot Anton Axiaq, Virtus continued with their good form of late to book a place in the semis after two fine wins over Siġġiewi.

Ray Muscat’s men had a good start to share the exchanges with Virtus.

Balance prevailed until midway through the second quarter when Virtus foreigner Evan Bruinsma started finding more space in Siġġiewi’s defence, allowing his team to change ends 42-32 ahead.

Virtus continued to dictate matters after the break as Siġġiewi did lift their game in the last quarter. Yet, their efforts were not enough to pose problems for Virtus who won the opening tie 84-63.

On Monday, Virtus had the better start to consolidate their position when leading 50-21 at the half-time break.

With overall victory in their bags, Virtus coach Paul Ferrante gave his substitutes time on court and Siġġiewi profited to narrow the gap to 67-43 before the last ten-minute session got underway.

Both teams threw caution to the wind as Virtus went on to win the second leg 85-63 to seal their place in the last four of the competition.

BUPA Luxol 160
Mellieħa Mr Green 97

(83-41, 86-56)

Mellieħa were bundled out of the competition with Luxol’s Orlando Rutledge inflicting most of the damage on the Second Division outfit.

Mellieħa stayed in touch until the first quarter of the opening leg but then Luxol started showing their true mettle to change ends 43-15 ahead.

The interval helped Mellieħa to regroup as Luxol failed to maintain their rhythm but John Tabone’s team came out more aggressive for the final ten minutes to regain control and open a comfortable 83-41 lead ahead of the second leg.

Mellieħa endured a difficult start on Monday but they showed signs of improvement as the match progressed. At the half-way mark they trailed Luxol 22-44.

Luxol’s full court press tactics was too much for Mellieħa, however, and the northerners were only able to pot a single three-pointer. Rutledge was in hot form, hitting eight three-pointers for Luxol to lead 67-25 at the end of the third quarter.

The match lost most of its interest as Luxol’s first-teamers were given a rest and Mellieħa regained their touch, managing a series of successful shots from outside the arc.

However, by that time Luxol had already been home and dry and Mellieħa only got the chance to make the score look more respectable in the end.

Louis Borg Cup SFs
Saturday (first legs): 13.00 Athleta vs Virtus; 16.30 Luxol vs Floriana.
Sunday (second legs): 11.15 Virtus vs Athleta; 14.45 Floriana vs Luxol.

Women’s League

Standings: Luxol 8 (4-0), Depiro 6 (2-2), Athleta 6 (2-2), Hibs 6 (2-2), Phoenix 4 (0-4).

Top scorers: A. Simmons (Athleta) 114, L. Alston (Luxol) 94, S. Evans (Depiro) 90, C. Grima (Hibs) 77, S. Brincat (Depiro) 54.

Louis Borg Cup: (preliminary round) Saturday – first leg 14.45 Depiro vs Hibs. Sunday – second leg 13.00 Hibs vs Depiro.