Athleta A-Z Electronics added another title to their name this season after beating Floriana Cafe del Mar in the two-legged Louis Borg Cup final last weekend. Joe Galea’s team had started the 2014-15 campaign by winning the Super Cup and the Anniversary Cup.

Athleta A-Z Electronics 172
Floriana Café Del Mar 121

(81-55, 91-66)

After an encouraging start to the opening leg, Floriana fizzled out midway through the second quarter and from then onwards there was only one team on court as Athleta were streets ahead of their opponents who looked nervous and often opted for individual play.

Pivot Dirk Schembri was missing for the Greens who still opened a 19-8 point lead. However, Galea’s pep talk in between quarters left its effect as Athleta looked more focused and started to dominate underneath the boards.

Floriana were rather careless in their passes as Athleta soon found their rhythm to change ends 32-24 ahead.

The Greens’ problems continued after the interval with their Dutch player Nick Oudendag playing below par.

Athleta were winning the majority of the rebounds and they continued to pull away to open a comfortable 47-30 lead.

With Floriana unable to react, Athleta hammered home their advantage for a clear 81-55 win.

The Greens had to do without Nigel Sultana in the second leg and Oudendag did not show up at all. Steve Schembri was missing for Athleta.

Nevertheless, it was Floriana who again had the best take-off only for Athleta to make better use of their tall players for them to stay within striking distance.

After changing ends 39-33 ahead, Floriana’s gallant resistance crumbled seven minutes from time when Athleta went 58-55 in front.

The Greens, with only six players available, ran out of options and Athleta pounced on their tiring opponents through fast breaks for a 91-66 win and a clear 172-121 score on aggregate.

National League
January 3 – 16.30 Depiro vs Siġġiewi.
January 4 – 13.00 Floriana vs Luxol, 16.30 Athleta vs Virtus.

Athleta to play Luxol in women’s final

Honey Athleta will be Caffe Moak Luxol’s opponents in the women’s Louis Borg Cup final that will be contested over two legs next month (January 16 and 18).

Last weekend, Athleta eliminated DHL Phoenix while PAVI Depiro were ousted by Luxol.

Athleta continued to show progress as the 130-79 win over two legs against Phoenix amply shows.

Phoenix had Justine Busuttil Gaerty in fine form but Athleta had Amelia Simmons to rely on and, in fact, she finished the first leg with 40 points to her credit in a 67-36 win.

Athleta imposed their superiority in the opening two quarters of the second leg to practically make sure of their passage to the final.

At half-time, Athleta led 31-19. Phoenix did offer some stiff resistance after the changeover but then Athleta clicked into gear for a clear 63-43 win.

Depiro had a few key players missing but influential captain Sam Brincat was back.

The first leg was a balanced affair with Luxol enjoying a two-point advantage at half-time, 25-23.

Equilibrium continued after the interval as Luxol started the last ten minutes 41-37 ahead.

Depiro were always in contention but were unable to wipe out the narrow deficit completely as Luxol finished the match 57-55 in front.

Luxol had the better start to the second leg, opening a six-point lead which they controlled until the interval – 32-24.

After increasing their lead at the start of the third quarter, 38-26, Luxol went on to seal their place in the final thanks to a 13-2 break for a 63-47 victory and 120-102 score in favour on aggregate.

National league
January 4 – 11.15 Hibs vs Depiro, 14.45 Athleta vs Phoenix.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.