Siggiewi ended their group games on a masterly note as they emerged winners over a Luxol side which fought tooth and nail despite the fact that both sides were already through to the semis.

What really mattered were the placings and that a Luxol victory would have put Loyola in the semis at the expense of Depiro. This did not materialise and Depiro took their place among the final four.

Siggiewi had Marco Pisani missing and Luxol’s absentees were Edward Bonello and Sean Mizzi.

The opening period had everything a good number of triples fine play good shooting and well planned set pieces. Bupa erased the champions’ first lead with a Nikola Vasovic trey but Alan Borg came up with personal points and a triple for Siggiewi.

JP Bonnici sank a triple for the Violets but a little later it was Adrian Micallef and Marco Matijevic with triples for the champions.

Siggiewi extended their advantage with a second Micallef trey but Luxol ended the session on a strong note with an 8-0 run and more triples from Bonnici and Robert Azzopardi. Siggiewi opened up briskly in the second session with an 8-0 run stopped by a Tom Paris trey.

Siggiewi had Matijevic making more points as they made up another 7-2 run and this time ended with an Antoine Costa triple. The Violets put in their free throws to draw closer but the champions made it to the interval with a 7-0 run and a Nigel Sultana trey for a good 47-35 advantage.

The third session started shorter on points but more evenly balanced than the previous one. Siggiewi began with free shots but the Violets made a 7-0 run ending with a third Bonnici triple.

The champions responded with three hoops in a row before the two teams then traded points with Siggiewi answering each Luxol basket. Siggiewi were on a 63-50 lead.

Alan Borg netted two more treys in the last quarter but Luxol had Andrew Cremona to counter for them.

Then it was Micallef with personal points for the champions as they established a winning margin.

Late in the match the points were still coming at both ends but the match had already been decided given the deficit facing Luxol who were still competitive till the end.

Siggiewi: 2 P. Shoults, M. Shoults, J. Doughty, E. Xuereb, 11 N. Sultana, 18 A. Borg, 24 A. Micallef, K. Borg, J. Jetson, M. Matijevic

Luxol: 2 M. Mercieca, 12 R. Azzopardi, 5 A. Micallef Trigona, 5 A. Costa, 7 N. Vasovic, 9 T. Paris, 14 A. Cremona, E. Caruana Montaldo, 15 JP Bonnici

Referees:  G. Barbara, A. Carbonaro, C. Terribile