Hibernians 98 Bupa Luxol 67
(20-15, 30-19, 23-18, 25-15)
The Paolites turned on a powerful performance, to continue where they left off, against Starlites, to propel themselves to the top of the standings, on a par with the same Starlites, but ahead on direct encounters. Luxol fell behind, soon after the start, to spend the rest of the match chasing strong adversaries. Hiberninas played a sound collective match, finding the effective Serbian, Ivan Demcesen, in the paint, to lap up the points, whilst also finding space for the other foreigners, to hike up their points, finishing up just short of a century. More was expected from Luxol, but Serbian, Vukasin Jandric, was on a tight leash, and although their new American, Jerrell martin, finished up as the game's top scorer, his contribution was not enough, for the Violets to keep up the pace with their opponents. The champions won all four sessions of play, to keep on increasing their advantage all through the match, except for brief periods.
Hibs' early points were answered back, as Luxol had Martin with his points, and a trey. The Paolites came up with a 12-2 run, as Roderick Vella sank a triple. Luxol cut back on their deficit, but were still in arrears, In the second period Luxol managed to go closer still, but Hibs then began to dictate the play Demcesen and Canadian, Chad Cuschieri Patus provided the ammunition, with Luke Farrugia coming up with a brace of treys, along with another two, from Cuschieri Patus, as Luxol fell further behind. They managed a very late JP Schembri trey, for a 50-34 Hibs lead, at the interval.
After the break Luxol seemed to make a comeback, beginning with a 7-2 run, after suffering two more hoop, from Spaniard, Alvaro Lizaur. The champions soon took over, to continue their charge, led by skipper, Marco Matijevic. Luxol had a Keith Dimech triple, but Hibs had gone on to a solid 73-52 advantage. The last quarter saw Vella nailing his second trey, with Swede, William Ahlberg, also netting a trey, for the Violets. The champions continued on their way, piling up the points, as Lizaur netted his triple. Martin put in his second Luxol triple, late in the match, as the Paolites finished just a hoop away from their century.
Hibs: R. Vella 8, P. Attard, K. Sultana, L. Farrugia 8, M. Formosa, I. Bonett 2, L. Tardito 15, A. Axiaq 4, M. Matijevic 8, A. Lizaur , I. Demcesen 24, C. Cuschieri Patus 14
Luxol: CJ Cordina, V. Jandric 8, P, Engelbert, J. Martin 31 L. Caruana Montaldo, JP Schembri 3, K. Dimech 5, W. Ahlberg 10, F. Sekulic 8, S. Cappello 2
Referees: B. Vassallo, T. Mantere, D. Torok