A to Z Electronics Athleta 90

Bupa Luxol 49

(22-11)(20-12)(34-4)(14-22)

Athleta have always beaten Luxol this season now in five matches and this one was a real canter for them.

Straight from the start Luxol had to chase their adversaries and the gap between the two teams continued to widen after each session of play until Athleta finally decided to give their bench players a run and Luxol had occasion to put in a good session score.

Athleta were with the missing Clayton Calleja and Luxol had captain Robert Azzopardi back after his suspension.

Athleta went in front from the start and ran up an 8-2 opener with a Michael Naudi triple. Luxol reacted to advance to within a point when they crept up and Petar Apcev sank a triple.

Then it was Athleta’s turn once more and they went on till the end of the period and built up a 10-0 run with hoops from Dirk and Steve Schembri to open up a double figure lead.

In the second session Athleta were still putting distance from their adversaries until Apcev put in his free throws to start a 7-2 run together with a Nikola vasovic trey. Kristin Baldacchino went on court for Athleta and helped his side to a 7-0 run stopped with a second Apcev triple.

Athleta kept up the pressure and made up a 7-2 run with an Omar Said triple which took them to a 42-23 interval advantage.

After the break Luxol were nowhere in sight as Athleta simply rode roughshod over them pouring in a heavy 25-0 run with Steve Schembri netting a total of four treys along with another from Said and the Violets were left in Athleta’s wake. Antoine Costa finally netted a Luxol triple bit Athleta were not done yet and finished the quarter with a 7-0 run and a Jonathan Zammit trey for a hefty 76-27 score.

The last period was more merciful to Luxol. They opened up with with triples two by Marco Mercieca and one from Jean Paul Bonnici before Athleta also had Baldacchino with his trey. The Violets were more to be seen in this last part of the encounter as Bonnici and Vasovic made their points but Athleta who opted for their bench players to give their share were way out in front as they returned to victory after their hiccup against Siggiewi.

Athleta: 15 M. Naudi, 5 J. Zammit, 21 D. Schembri, E. Bezzina, C. Galea, 7 O. Said, A. Bonnici, 9 K. Baldacchino, A. Ryan, 20 S. Schembri

Luxol: C. Cordina, 11 M. Mercieca, R. Azzopardi, A. Micallef Trigona, 12 P. Apcev, 3 A. Costa, 8 N. Vasovic, T. Paris, 2 A. Cremona, E. Caruana Montaldo, 13 JP Bonnici, S. Mizzi

Referees: B. Vassallo, A. Carbonaro, C. Terribile