Athleta swept over Loyola and the defeat by Siggiewi which rankled them is now behind them.

Loyola were hit hard from the start and the advantage which Athleta obtained served them well as they could control the rest of the encounter without undue difficulties even when bench players were on court. It was a day of grace for Omar Said as he grabbed his points and sank his triples.

Loyola were without David Camilleri and Clayton Calleja remained on the bench or Athleta who also were without Etienne Bezzina.

Both sides took time to settle down and then Athleta were the first to go forward as they managed to make up a long 15-0 run when Steve Schembri netted a triple followed soon after with two more from Said. Loyola had Jovan Mihailovic to start them off but Athleta made a positive ending to the period with a 9-0 run and a third triple from Said.

The second session was a different matter as Billy Zammit netted an 8-0 personal run with a couple of treys. Athleta reacted but Loyola were still putting in their hoops and shared the points with their adversaries. Athleta had enough of a comfortable advantage till the interval on a 39-23 score.

After the break Loyola’s opening hoop was followed by Athleta stealing balls and making an 8-0 run. When Loyola stoped their opponents Said continued with his tally and also sank two more triples.

Athleta mustered a solid 16-1 run in all swinging far ahead before Zammit potted another triple for Loyola.

When the final period began Athleta were on a 69-31 advantage. Loyola were being taken to task even then and fell further behind on a double score against. Athleta kept up some more pressure but in the later stages they relaxed and Loyola grittily came up with a game ending 11-0 run mainly from Anton Axiaq and Joshua Anastasi.

Loyola: S. Pace, 15 B. Zammit, 2 S. Borg, 1 G. Cuschieri, M. Cilia, S. Vella, 6 A. Axiaq, 10 J. Mihailovic, 8 J. Anastasi, 2 J. Ransley, 4 A. Tabone

Athleta: 10 M. Naudi, 6 J. Zammit, C. Galea, 15 D. Schembri, 28 O. Said, 9 A. Bonnici, K. Baldacchino, A. Ryan, 9 S. Schembri

Referees: B. Vassallo, G. Barbara, E. Mangani

Depiro Mtarfa 78

Bupa Luxol 61

(19-20)(18-12)(14-14)(27-15)

Depiro opened up their possibilities of a spot in the championship pool with their third win in four matches over Luxol this season.

Depiro fully deserved their victory and now they have a match in hand and are two points adrift of the Violets. The latter couldn’t quite get to grips with elusive opponents who were only behind for a brief spell in the opening session.

Depiro had Jeffrey Gatt and Gilmore Mercieca missing. For Luxol the only absentee was Sean Mizzi.

The Violets began with a Nikola Vasovic triple but Depiro turned in a 9-0 run with Emanuel Lupo working well in the paint. Luxol drew level with triples from Petar Apcev and vasovic again but Andrew aquiline also sank a trey for Depiro.

Luxol strode forward with an 11-1 run and a Jean Paul Bonnici triple. Depiro went to within a point till the end of the period with a trio of hoops. Both sides then put in their triples with a second by Depiro’s aquiline and apcev’s second for Luxol.

Depiro made up an 8-0 run when Isaac Tanti netted two hoops with Luxol’s reaction being an 8-2 run with Tom Paris active in the zone. Roderick Vella extended Depiro’s advantage with a triple and they held on to a 37-32 lead at the interval.

After the break Tanti netted a couple of hoops with a response from Luxol with a triple from Robert Azzopardi. Vella also sank another trey for Depiro and their lead remained stable.

The Violets made more triples by Vasovic and Bonnici but they were still in arrears as Depiro also netted their points. With a session to go they were on a 51-46 advantage.

Luxol began well with an Antoine Costa triple but then were stunned by a solid Depiro 11-0 run as Vella put in another trey with more Malcolm Mallia hoops. Azzopardi sank his second triple for Luxol but Vella was on his fourth one and his side were way out in front.

The violets continued with their triples from Vasovic and Marco Mercieca but Depiro had enough of a lead to see them through safely till the end of the encounter.

Depiro: 19 R. Vella, 2 JP Schembri, 7 D. Bugeja, 19 A. Aquilina, J. Camilleri, 8 E. Lupo, 10 M. mallia, 13 I. Tanti,

Luxol: C. Cardona, 5 M. Mercieca, 9 R. Azzopardi, 2 A. Micallef Trigona, 8 P. Apcev, 4 A. Costa, 14 N. Vasovic, 4 T. Paris, 7 A. Cremona, E. Caruana Montaldo, 8 JP Bonnici

Referees: E. Mangani, A. Carbonaro, C. Terribile

Standings

A to Z Electronics Athleta lead the standings with 19 points from 10 games. They are followed by Siggiewi Derby with 15 points from nine, Bupa Luxol 13 from 10, Depiro Mtarfa 12 from nine and Tata Motors 10 from nine.