Floriana Cafe Del Mar 77
Falken Cynergi Virtus 67

Aggregate: 136-164

Falken Cynergi Virtus lost the second leg of the men’s Louis Borg Cup final yesterday but the result did little to dampen their atmosphere, having beaten Floriana by a wider margin in Sunday’s first leg to seal another major honour this season.

Enjoying a cushion lead from the first match, which they won 97-58, Virtus failed to produce the same kind of aggressive play that saw them dominating their opponents in the opening leg.

Floriana only had Chad Patus on court in the first five minutes as he was not 100 per cent fit but they still played better than Virtus, particularly in defence.

The Greens turned the ball better in attack with playmaker Lee Ross finding his shooting range and potting decisive points for his team – 25 in all.

Virtus had the better start and went on to lead 15-8 by the end of the first quarter. But Floriana looked more solid in defence when play resumed and their approach paid dividends as they wiped out the gap and went in for half-time leading 27-25.

Balance prevailed after the break but the last ten minutes belonged to Floriana. They were almost perfect in their shooting percentage and shocked Virtus as they opened a 61-55 lead with five minutes left.

Virtus knew they already had the cup in their bags but still wanted to avoid defeat in this second leg. In a tense finale, Floriana lost Abraham Portelli, Nigel Sultana and Anton Axiaq with five fouls but they held on for the win, a morale booster as competition shifts focus to the National League next weekend.

Floriana: C. Patus, M. Borg, L. Ross 25, N. Sultana 17, S. Borg 2, A. Portelli 7, N. Vasovic 13, C. Calleja, A. Axiaq 9, A. Micallef Trigona 4.

Virtus: S. Pace 3, D. Bugeja 2, R. Bonnici 5, D. Camilleri 9, S. Bonnici, J. Formosa 18, A. Felice Pace 6, C. Santo 21, L. Sobers, F. Bartolo, P. Shoults 3, T. Grech.

The Luxol players lift the Louis Borg Cup, yesterday.

Women’s final

Caffe Moak Luxol 73
Hibs Electrofix 54

Aggregate: 124-99

Luxol took revenge for their setback to Hibernians in the St James Hospital KO final by beating them a second time in the space of a few days to claim the women’s Louis Borg Cup.

Luxol won both legs but more was expected from Hibs in yesterday’s second match. In the end, however, they were outsmarted by Luxol top-scorer Steffi DeMartino who, perhaps, produced her best match this season and potted a remarkable 31 points.

Luxol started pulling away in the last minutes of the first quarter and went on to consolidate their lead when potting the first 12 points of the second quarter to open a 30-11 advantage.

Though Hibs surpassed that difficult moment they could not close the gap till the interval – 45-26.

Hibs continued to cut the deficit as the third period got underway only for Luxol to recover some lost ground and start the last ten minutes 53-44 ahead.

Any hopes Hibs had of at least winning this second leg were dashed when Luxol potted eight points without reply to go 61-44 in front. Hibs’ reaction was weak as Luxol never lost composure to make sure of a merited success.

Caffe Moak Luxol: S. Pace 22, B. Zammit 9, N. Agius, J. Borg Cardona 1, M. Mercieca 4, S. DeMartino 31, N. Vella, A. Calleja, P. Ellul, C. Salem, M. Darmanin, C. Curmi 6.

Hibs: J. Scerri 2, E. Cassar 2, I. Agius, J. Grima 12, M. Said 2, C. Grima 19, K. Portanier Mifsud, N. Mifsud, H. Al Tumi 14, N. Farrugia, G. Costa 3.