Bupa recovered from their opening Shield defeat by Compleet IS, and had no difficulty in beating a Floriana side that must buck up their resources, if they want to remain in the top division. Bupa were superior in all departments, and could afford some slips during their performance.
The Greens seem to be a weaker team from last season, and they cannot afford to lose possession so often, as they did against Bupa.
Alan Borg returned for Bupa, having served his long suspension, and took Reuben Dalli’s place. Floriana, now without Don ross and Roderick Mifsud, have Sassoun Saakian, ex-Mosta. and Milan Pajic, from Siggiewi, who qualifies with a Maltese passport.
Floriana took time to settle down, and Alex Bianchi and Marko Matijevic established Bupa’s lead. Robert Azzopardi consolidated the score to 12-2, before the Greens could organise a better defence. Till the end of the session it was Matijevic who obtained Bupa’s points, and keep their advantage.
In the second quarter a couple of treys, in an 8-0 run, gave Bupa a 27-8 lead. Floriana’s Saakian stopped the run with his points, but Bupa picked up the rythym again, and a 13-2 session-ending run, put Bupa on a 44-19 advantage at the interval
After the break Bupa began once more with a brace of treys. Floriana did recover, with an 8-4 run, and a Milan Pajic trey. Bupa then denied the Greens the way to the basket, till the end of the quarter, whilst running up a 10-0 break. With a session to go it was already cut and dry, with a 64-27 Bupa lead.
The final session started on a slow note, with Bupa putting in their bench players. Floriana shared the play for some time, but when Bupa pressed again, they made up a 9-2 run. The match then fizzled out, with Floriana needing to buck up their performance for their future games.
BUPA: S. Mizzi, 4 M. Mercieca, 17 R. Azzopardi, M. Micallef, 8 A. Borg, 8 A. Bianchi, 1 M. Bonnici, 5 T. Paris, D. Schembri, E. Caruana Montaldo, 23 M. Matijevic, 11 S. Schembri
Floriana: K. Mifsud, 3 N. Falzon, R. Spiteri, 6 M. Pajic, 2 B. Riolo, 2 K. Borg, G. Gilson, 10 A. Sultana, 16 S. Saakian
Referees: Emanuel Mangani, Clive Terribile