Gzira Athleta     72     Starlites GIG     74

(15-8, 21-31, 23-15, 13-20)

An enthralling encounter left everything still undecided, and all is for grabs, in the second match, on Sunday. Both teams had their moments, with Athleta twice enjoying double digit leads. Late free throws gave the slight victory to Starlites, but it is still tight. There were some good individual performances, with Connell Crossland, for Athleta, and some great defensive work by Peter Shoults, whilst Jordan Stotts had a very positive match, for Starlites, with Cameron Ward taking them out of tight corners.

Athlita held a good leash on their opponents, in the opening session, as Crossland and Julio Guity got the points, along with a Shoults triple. Starlites found it difficult to penetrate, and their scoring suffered. In the next period it was Starlites to the fore, as they overturned the score, and Ward netted a trio of treys. Vincent Pace helped Athleta out, as they stayed close to their adversaries. Then it was Guity to answer for Stotts' prowess, as he put in his points, and a triple. Athleta managed a late small lead, which Starlites neutralised, and then went ahead, for a 39-36 halftime advantage.

After the break Athleta broke forward once more, with an early 10-2 run, but Stotts nailed another trey, for Starlites. So did Nikola Vasovic, at the other end, and Athleta enjoyed a 55-45 lead. Starlites took time, but at the session's end they had gone back to a 54-59 deficit. The last quarter saw Starlites regain another advantage, after an Alec Felice Pace trey, and he followed up with another, after Athleta had twice drawn level. Starlites' advantage was whittled away, but Athleta's new lead had Stotts answering back, with a third trey. Vasovic did the same, at the other end, but Athleta couldn't hold on to their lead, in the closing stages, ad Starlites managed to net three free shots, which gave them the slight advantage, into the second encounter, which could prove to be more than useful, in another tight game.

Athleta: N. Vasovic 12, C. Crossland 20, P. Shoults 5, L. Stefanovic, A. Perunicic, N. Xuereb, M. Gouder, V. Pace 16, I. Mitrovic, J. Guity 19

Starlites: A. Felice Pace 10, O. Psaila, N. Formosa 2, R. Bonnici, I. Felice Pace, C. Ward 23, M. Falzon, M. Scerri, R. Carabott, W. Darley 9, A. Sears 2, J. Stott 28 

Referees: Z. Dobrosavljevic, D. Torok, M. Hraisha