Athleta started their defence of the league title with a handsome victory over Floriana. A strong opening had Athleta in a solid position, and they dould then administer the rest of the match, after the interval. Floriana’s efforts were not enough to halt Athleta’s march, except for a brief spell in the third session, with a late flurry, but Athleta picked up once more in the last session.

The champions recovered Kristin Baldacchino, back from Australia. Floriana were without Mark Ciantar and Neville Mercieca, the latter now playing in the second string.

Athleta began with a 7-0 run, ending with an Omar Said triple. Floriana went to a basket behind, but Said nailed his second trey. Bryant Williams kept on with his free throws for the Greens, until the end of the period, but Athleta kept their distance, until Said also put in another triple. Athleta opened up once more, with a 7-0 run, and a further Said triple, who repeated the dose later, in a 9-2 run. Floriana’s points were only coming in between, and Athelat made another 12-2 run, this time with an Ivan Buldakov trey. Late in the session Steve Sammut also netted a trey for the Greens, but Athleta were out in front, at 44-22, at the interval.

After the break Steve Sammut netted another Flroiana trey, and afterwards Athleta’s three hoops had a reply every time. When the champions seemed to be drawing away once more, the Greens made a good ending to the period, with an 8-2 run, beginning with another Steve Sammut triple, and the score became 57-39, at the start of the final session. It was Adrian Baldacchino with a Floriana trey, only for Athleta to speed up a 12-3 run, with the Greens’ points coming from a Chris Sammut triple. The game then finished tamely out, for a comfortable Athleta win.

Athleta 14 M. Naudi, 3 D. Bugeja, 3 I. Buldakov, 4 A. Fekete, M. Giusti, 21 O. Said, 11 D. Schembri, 17 A. Bonnici, K. Baldacchino, S. Schembri

Floriana J. Curmi, 7 C. Sammut, 2 I. Mercieca, 11 S. Sammut.2 C. Calleja, 3 A. Baldacchino, 20 B. Williams, 2 A. Sultana

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

Siggiewi 71

Depiro Mtarfa 83

(16-31, 14-15, 19-16, 22-21)

A high scoring match was marred in the final period, when two Siggiewi players did not finish the game. Until those moments Siggiewi had grittily drawn closer to Depiro, after lapsing into a heavy deficit. From then on Depiro made sure, as their lead opened up again. There were some good personal scores on both sides, and this was Depiro’s first win in four matches this season, against Siggiewi.

Siggiewi recovered Clement Kodomaris, although he remained on the bench, as did Karl Borg. They also had Louis Camilleri and Eman Xuereb missing. Depiro fielded their full outfit.

Depiro made a solis start, with a 10-0 run, starting with a trio of hoops from Adrian Micallef. Marco Matijevic replied for Siggiewi, with his points, and a triple. Depiro held on to their lead, through Greg Hamlin, with Siggiewi reacting with Chris Meier and more Matijevic points, including a second trey. Roderick Vella did likewise for Depiro, and Isaac Tanti had late hoops, for a better advantage. In the second period free throwsbrought Siggiewi closer, but Depiro’s response had Vella with two triples, and another from Andrew Aquilina, in a solis 13-3 run, with more Micallef hoops. Siggiewi fell behind rapidly, but recovered slightly till the interval, though the score was reading 46-30 in Depiro’s favour.

After the break Hamlin extended Depiro’s advantage, before Siggiewi came up with their triples, by Peter Shoults, Matijevic and Alan Borg. At the other end it was Emanuel Lupo with more points for Depiro, whose lead began to waver, with Siggiewi’s late pressing, and a second Shoults trey. Their deficit went down, but depiro were on a favourable 62-49 score. Shoults netted a third triple, in the last quarter, but Depiro reacted with a 7-2 run, and a fourth Vella trey. Then it was Matijevic, also with his fourth triple, and Siggiewi were starting to draw nearer. Then protests in a Siggiewi attack had Nigel Sultana being ousted from the bench, after being deemed to step on the court. Later on Alan Borg received his second technical foul, and was also out. The resulting free shots pushed Depiro out of Siggiewi’s reach. Late points by Shoults were to no avail, and Depiro garnered their first two league points.

Siggiewi R. Agius, L. Camilleri, P. Shoults, E. Xuereb, N. Sultana, A. Borg, JP Azzopardi, C. Maier, C. Kodomaris, J. Jetson, M. Matijevic

Depiro R. Vella, JP Schembri, A. Aquilina, A Portelli, A. Micallef, E. Lupo, M. Mallia, I. Tanti, G. Hamlin

Referees G. Barbara, S. Gouder, C. Terribile