Falken Cynergi Virtus came from behind to beat Floriana Café Del Mar and clinch the St James Hospital Shield on Sunday.
For Virtus, this was their third honour this season after winning the Independence Cup and Super Cup.
Floriana Café Del Mar 62
Falken Cynergi Virtus 71
(15-10, 22-17, 9-15, 16-29)
Floriana led for practically the entire match, bar the last four minutes when they lowered their guard and lost the match.
Chad Patus potted 32 points for the Greens but when Virtus applied more close marking on him, Floriana were unable to get going and lost much of their drive in attack.
Both teams took more than expected to settle down with several stray passes early on.
In fact, it took Virtus six minutes to pot their first point through a Chris Santo free-throw.
By that point, Floriana were nosing ahead but Virtus improved to share the exchanges till the end of the quarter 15-10.
The second 10-minute session saw both teams replying to each other’s baskets until the final minutes before half-time when Patus hit important points for Floriana to change ends ten points ahead – 37-27.
Virtus pressed full court but Floriana were not duly worried as they succeeded in extending their lead to 13 points (46-33), looking very much in control until that juncture.
But suddenly Patus was finding less space on the court and Virtus’s bold efforts were rewarded.
Two three-pointers by Jacob Formosa heralded their comeback as Floriana were shaken and their lead was cut to four points before the last quarter got underway – 46-42.
Floriana weathered the storm at first but then succumbed under the pressure even though Virtus had three players – Peter Shoults, David Bugeja and Robert Bonnici – all fouled out.
Floriana: C. Patus 32, D. Borg, L. Ross 9, N. Sultana 3, S. Borg 3, A. Portelli, N. Vasovic, C. Calleja, A. Axiaq 11, A. Micallef Trigona 4, O. Shamala, N. Andrejevic.
Virtus: S. Pace 5, D. Bugeja 8, R. Bonnici 2, D. Camilleri 8, J. Formosa 18, A. Felice Pace, S. Bonnici, C. Santo 19, F. Bartoli, A. Schembri, P. Shoults 11, T. Grech.
Refs: B. Vassallo, E. Mangani, A. Carbonaro.