Hibernians 94
Starlites Naxxar 103

(26-28, 22-24, 24-31, 22-20)

The most entertaining game of the weekend resulted in Starlites’ second league win as they overcame Hibernians’ strong resistance, with the latter still searching for their first league victory.

Baskets and points were definitely not lacking in this encounter with both sides amassing a large number of shot attempts with a considerable good scoring percentage.

Starlites had the lead for a substantial part of the game, even going up to a maximum 17-point advantage, 92-75 with seven minutes left in the game. However, Hibs, quite consistently, showed certain vigour to fight back into the game.

Hibs’ late reaction was a 13-0 run in three minutes and the game was wide open again. The gap came down twice to just three points but eventually Starlites ascertained their win from the free-shot line.

Hibs: P. Attard 2, E. Xuereb, L. Farrugia 5, I. Bonett, K. Sultana, A. Micallef 18, M. Matijevic 22, S. Vella 8, F. Mariani, A. Lizaur 39.

Starlites: I. Mitrovic 28, M. Azzopardi, L. Vella, R. Carabott 10, C. Schembri,  M. Falzon, A. Felice Pace 15, N. Stankovic 19, J. Formosa 31, A. Schembri, M. Farrugia, T. Grech.

Referees: B. Vassallo, S. Micallef, Z. Dobrosavljevic.

Gżira Athleta 63
Cynergi Depiro 69

(19-14, 18-16, 16-20, 10-19)

The battle for the third league win between these two top sides resulted in a Depiro success and they now share the top spot in the standings with Floriana.

The defining moment in this encounter was a Depiro 13-2 break in the middle part of the final quarter as the run helped them overturn a seven-point margin into a four–point lead so late in the game as Athleta went quite dry in point-grabbing in that fourth session.

The final moments of the first half had Athleta showing the better offensive play and change ends 37-30 in the lead.

The third quarter was a balanced affair with both sides erratic in their free-throws and a low total game percentage at both ends.

The last quarter had Depiro’s significant 13-2 run as they also won some important offensive rebounds and points from Mason, David Bugeja and Alvaro Quiros gave them the lead.

Josiah Whitehead was the only point grabber for Athleta in the final quarter. They did come back within three points, 63-66, but then missed four free-throws.

Depiro profited and closed the game with late free-throws from Bugeja and Dominic Scafidi for their first win over Athleta this season.

Athleta: M. Naudi  18, R. Vella 14, D. Camilleri 4, L. Stefanovic, P. Shoults 5, F. Mifsud Bonnici, B. Zammit, S. Vincic, J. Whitehead 22.

Depiro: S. Sammut, D. Bugeja 13, R. Bonnici, D. Schembri, A. Aqui-lina 10,  D.J. Mason 24, T. Zammit, M. Mallia 2, A. Quiroz 7, K. Xuereb 6, M. Borg, D. Scafidi 7.

Referees: E. Mangani, S. Micallef, Z. Dobrosavljevic.

Floriana MCP Car Parks 64
BUPA Luxol 75

(7-19, 10-19, 21-22, 26-15)

Buoyed by the introduction of giant pivot Samuel Deguara, Luxol made Floriana taste their first league defeat.

One of the determining factors in this game was Luxol’s superiority under the boards as Deguara’s towering presence contributed to a large number of rebounds at both ends.

Floriana took time to settle down and Luxol had the better start with Pierce Cumpstone and William Ahlberg grabbing the initial baskets, youngster Keith Dimech notching a trey and Deguara making his presence felt at close range.

Luxol’s lead increased to 30-7 as they also had a good start to the second quarter including baskets from Stefan Cappello and Jean Paul Schembri.

Although Luxol kept banging in their baskets, Floriana improved after a time-out as Anton Axiaq was trying his best against Deguara’s height advantage.

The Greens’ best patch arrived midway through the final quarter when they registered a 14-2 run, closed off with a Nikola Andrejevic three-pointer, that brought the gap between the two sides down to 69-57.

However, Luxol were still in the driving seat and they controlled the final moments for their second league win.

Floriana: C. Patus 7, S. Pace 8, S. Borg 7, N. Vasovic 9, C. Calleja, A. Axiaq 17, A. Micallef Trigona 4, N. Andrejevic 12.

Luxol: M. Mercieca 4, J. Maistre Melillo, J.P. Schembri 7,  K. Dimech 7, W. Ahlberg 15, P. Cumpstone 22, S. Deguara 14,  S. Cappello 6.

Referees: B. Vassallo, C. Farrugia, Z. Dobrosavljevic.

Standings
Floriana, Depiro 7; Luxol, Athleta, Starlites 6; Hibernians 4.