After suffering three defeats in a row against their rivals, and losing out on an honour in the process, Compleet finally beat Bupa, in a match that did not have auch a great bearing, given that Siggiewi are at a distance from the two teams in this phase of play. The game alternated between moments of good play, and also flashes of lackadaisical moves, but the two sides put in a spurt at the end, as nobody likes losing, especially against neighbours and rivals.

Bupa recovered Dirk Schembri, who missed their last encounter, whilst Addison Bonnici is still sidelined for Compleet.

It was a slow moving match at the start, as both teams left some valid players on the bench. Points were hard to come by, and it was Compleet with teh first leads of the game, at 7-4 and 9-7. Abraham Portelli sank a couple of hoops for bupa, and they could end the quarter on a single basket advantage. In teh seocnd period the points were still sparse at first, as Bupa held on to their lead. A Portelli trey for Bupa was quickly followed by Silvio Cassar’s trey at the other end. Towards the end of the sesison Bupa’s lead was wiped out, as Julian Naudi’s trey and his brother, Michael’s points earned Compleet a slim 26-25 lead.

After the break it was agame of fluctuating fortunes, with the lead changing hands on several occasions. Bupa’s Steve Schembri put in his trey and free shots, and his brother, Dirk, was active under the boards, with Robert Azzopardi netting a late trey. Compleet had David Camilleri making a couple of treys, Silvio Cassar with his close range hoops and Julian Naudi with a mid session trey. At the end Bupa were on a 47-46 advantage, with a session to go. In the final quarter it was Silvio cassar with the most impact, as he put his side in front, and despite Bupa’s efforts, he continued to hold sway. Bupa went close twice, with Azzopardi netting a second trey, but Michael Naudi replied shortly, as Compleet held on till the end of the match, and overhauled Bupa at the top of the standings, going into the top position.

Bupa: B. Micallef Trigona, 4 M. Mercieca, 8 R. Azzopardi, M. Micallef, 4 A. Borg, 7 A. Portelli, 4 N. Vasovic, T. Paris, 6 D. Schembri, E. Caruana Montaldo, 13 M. Matijevic, 13 S. Schembri

Compleet: 14 M. Naudi, 12 J. Naudi, 8 D. Camilleri, 1 E. Bezzina, C. Sammut, J. Valdiserra, 3 O, Said, C. Calleja, 4 K. Baldacchino, 23 S. Cassar

Referees: Bernard Vassallo, Jean Paul Sammut, Anthony Micallef