Hibs Electrofix 45
Caffe Moak Luxol 51

(15-10, 10-17, 11-12, 9-12)

Caffe Moak Luxol bounced back from their defeat to Hibernians in the St James Hospital Knock-Out final after beating their rivals 51-45 to take a slight advantage ahead of the second leg of the Louis Borg Cup final tomorrow.

The first-leg match was balanced with the lead changing hands several times but Luxol produced the better finish to win by six points.

After falling 3-1 behind, Hibs hit back to pot 13 points without reply.

After a time-out, Luxol recovered to share the exchanges until the end of the quarter which ended 15-10 for Hibs.

The opening minutes of the second quarter belonged to Luxol who went 19-15 ahead after scoring nine points.

Hibs’ reaction brought them on level terms at 23-all but it was Luxol who went into half-time a basket ahead, 27-25.

After the break, Hibs regained the lead, 32-31, but Luxol were not ready to lie down.

They nailed eight consecutive points to open a 39-32 lead but Hibs obtained the last four points of the third session.

With three points separating the two teams, the stage was set for an exciting finale.

After falling further behind, 45-36, Hibs managed to close the gap to a single point, 43-42.

But free-throws in the last minutes helped Luxol to restore their slender lead ahead of the second leg.

Hibs: J. Scerri, E. Cassar 12, N. Vella, L. Agius, J. Grima 9, N. Said 2, C. Grima 15, N. Mifsud, H. Al Tumi 2, N. Farrugia, G. Costa 5.

Luxol: S. Pace 13, B. Zammit 8, N. Agius, J. Borg Cardona 4, M. Mercieca 5, S. De Martino 13, N. Vella, O. Calleja, P. Ellul 2, C. Sellemi, M. Darmanin, C. Curmi 6.

Referees: E. Mangani, Z. Dobroseljevic, C. Farrugia.