Gżira Athleta had a superb weekend on court after claiming the Louis Borg Cup in both men’s and women’s categories.

Off court, however, Athleta, and the entire basketball community, were saddened with the news of the passing away of their president Marcel Pisani. Fittingly, all matches on Sunday observed a minute’s silence in remembrance of this fine gentleman.

Floriana MCP Car Parks   67
Gżira Athleta       88
(15-22, 11-15, 16-22, 25-29)

Gżira Athleta       58
Floriana MCP Car Parks   60

(15-15, 13-21, 17-11, 13-13)

In the men’s final, Athleta produced an outstanding performance in the first game to open a sizeable 21-point margin before warding off Floriana’s efforts in Game 2 to claim the title for a record ninth time besides laying their hands on the fourth seasonal honour.

Led by superior shooting from captain Michael Naudi, who potted a seasonal high of 36 points, and Josiah Whitehead, Athleta gradually increased their lead in the first game with Floriana committing a number of turnovers which proved detrimental in their plans.

Floriana faced a big uphill task in the second game.

They did have a favourable moment when, late in the second quarter, they won several offensive rebounds and opened a 33-22 lead. However, Athleta steadily trimmed down the margin to a 43-43 game ten minutes later.

Athleta seemed poised for a win when a basket from Miguel Gauci Montaldo put them 56-50 ahead but Floriana overturned the result in the last three minutes with a 10-2 run, including a trey from Nikola Andrejevic.

Comment

■ Roderick Vella (Athleta guard): “We adopted a very disciplined first game both on the defensive and offensive ends. In the second game we tried not to let them take a big lead and kept the game close.

“What is important is that we managed to win this title for our President Marcel Pisani.”

Gżira Athleta       42
Starlites Naxxar 34
(13-8, 7-2, 8-10, 14-14)

Starlites Naxxar 71
Gżira Athleta       65
(10-15, 22-9, 13-20, 26-21)

The women’s final produced a tense finale as the cup could have gone either way although finally Athleta reaped the benefits of their first game win to lift the Louis Borg Cup for the first time.

This was also their second honour this season after their success in the St James MBA Shield.

The first game produced a very low scoring percentage as both sides were quite erratic in their shooting.

Starlites, playing in their first ever final, seemed subdued initially, going also nine minutes without a point, with Athleta opening an early 17-8 lead led by duo Amelia Simmons and Christina Grima.

Offensive plays improved in the second half with Starlites gaining more confidence through plays from Patricia Arguello and Josephine Grima but Athleta always maintained the advantage.

Game 2 was a different game on the offensive ends. Initially, it looked like Athleta were going to close off the final early as they raced to a 13-2 lead (and a 19-point aggregate advantage) in the first seven minutes.

However, it all changed quickly in the next ten minutes as Starlites found their mark to hit an impressive 25-6 run with hoops also coming from young players Kirsty Galea, Danielle Agius and Kim Pirotta.

Athleta regained composure after the interval and gradually took the upperhand.

But in the last quarter Galea had a magic moment as she banged in three treys in a 12-0 run that made it 65-56 for the Naxxar side with two minutes left.

Both coaches resorted to late time-outs in a dramatic finale. Athleta potted six points in a minute only for Starlites to hit back through Samantha Farrugia for 70-63.

Antoinette Borg kept Athleta’s hopes high as she calmly potted two free-throws although Starlites had a shot to force overtime when Davies was fouled on a long distance shot but she only managed one point from the free-throw line.

Louis Borg, the MBA President Emeritus, presented the cup and medals to both winning teams on Sunday.

Comment

■ Ruth Spiteri (Athleta coach): “It was a great final and fought to the very end. Our Game Two was not one of the best and we only managed to win the cup as we defended well.

“I would like to congratulate Starlites for their excellent performance on both games.”

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