Floriana Café Del Mar 62
Falken Cynergi Virtus 76

(10-27, 18-6, 16-22, 18-21)

Virtus started their title defence in the best-of-five final series on the right footing after emerging from a temporary slump before the interval to beat Floriana.

Both coaches fielded their best formations but emotion played its part as, at times, the two teams played well below par.

Floriana playmaker Sam Borg and pivot Anton Axiaq were not in peak form while Virtus lacked precision from outside the arch.

Mishit passes and a lack of cohesion from the Greens allowed Virtus to pot the first 11 points of the game.

Floriana coach Mario Tabone was forced to call an early time-out. A couple of substitutions allowed his men to settle down, although Virtus still held an edge to open a 17-point lead at the end of the first quarter – 27-10.

Floriana switched to man-marking tactics and the move paid dividends as it unsettled Virtus who committed several unforced errors.

Floriana took advantage to cut the leeway to 27-18 as they grew in stature while the champions continued to struggle, resorting to individual play that did not help matters at that particular juncture.

At half-time, the Greens had reduced the gap to five points – 33-28.

However, the break helped Paul Ferrante’s Virtus to regroup.

Chris Santo, nowhere to be seen in that second quarter, looked more positive with his drives and Virtus surpassed that difficult moment to recover some of their early lead, starting the last quarter 55-44 in front.

Although Chad Patus came more in the picture in the final minutes, Floriana were never able to apply pressure on Virtus who pulled away after the fifth minute.

Even the loss of hard-working captain Peter Shoults failed to derail Paul Ferrante’s team who controlled Floriana’s efforts without difficulty.

Floriana: C. Patus 21, L. Ross 4, N. Sultana 8, S. Borg, A. Portelli 4, N. Vasovic 15, C. Calleja, A. Axiaq, A. Micallef Trigona 10, N. Andrejevic.

Virtus: S. Pace 3, D. Bugeja 10, R. Bonnici 2, D. Camilleri, S. Bonnici, J. Formosa 21, A. Felice Pace, C. Santo 27, A. Schembri, F. Bartolo, P. Shoults 13, T. Grech.

Final series (game 2): Thursday – 20.00 Virtus vs Floriana.