Depiro 48

Mellieha SVS 64

(9-23)(13-14)(12-12)(14-15)

Depiro didn’t recover from their defeat by Floriana, in their opening Relegation Pool encounter. They are now surpassed by Mellieha, at the top of the standings. Jide Jetson made havoc of the Depiro defence, and also pulled down a number of defensive rebounds.

When he faltered at the end there was Julian Naudi to hammer in his rebounds, and for Depiro there was no occasion for a late comeback.

Depiro once more had to do without Marco Arsovski and Antoine Costa, whilst on their part, Mellieha were without two of the Aquilina brothers, Ben and Joshua.

Depiro matched their opponents at the start, as Mellieha put in a Steve Sammut trey. From then on, till the end of the quarter, it was Mellieha who dictated the game, and with Steve Sammut sinking two more treys, the Northerners made a convincing 18-3 run, to pull clear of their adversaries, and establish a strong lead.

In the second session Mellieha were still giving no quarter, and their initial 10-2 run put Depiro under intense pressure, as the latter fell to a hefty 11-33 deficit, as Jide Jetson was dominating under the boards for Mellieha. Towards the end of the quarter Depiro picked themselves up, and with Jetson on the bench, Alex Tabone could start a mini revival, and Depiro managed an 11-4 run. At the interval Mellieha held a 37-22 lead.

After the break Mellieha again enhanced their advantage, and Jetson was still making headway from close range. When he went on the ebnch, due to a hand injury, Depiro, then way behind, recovered a little to raise hopes, as they finished with an 8-3 run, for a 49-34 score, and with Mellieha still holding sway, with a session to go.

Depiro tried to creep nearer at the start of the last quarter, but a Julian Naudi trey hampered them, and Mellieha's lead was not only left intact, but they managed a 7-0 run, to leave Depiro with little hope, despite more than half a session to go for the remainder of the match. Mellieha's bench players went on court again, as depiro were hit yet again with a second Naudi trey. The match then petered out quietly, although Robert Loporto found time to put in his trey for Mellieha.

Depiro: 12 R. Vella, D. Debono, M. Sammut, 5 G. Muscat, A. Aquilina, 9 A. Tabone, 6 J. Gatt, 4 E. Lupo, 4 M. Mallia, 6 I. tanti, 2 D. Agius

Mellieha: 6 C. Sammut, 16 J. Naudi, 11 S. Sammut, S. Aquilina, E. Xuereb, 4 M. Pisani, M. Cauchi, 24 J. Jetson, 3 R. Loporto

Referees: E,manuel Mangnai, Stephen Micallef, Clive Terribile