Basketball
BOV National League – Men 1 Div.
AtoZ Electronics Athleta 95
Tata Motors Loyola 49
(20-7, 24-10, 24-11, 27-21)
Athleta started off their defence of the league title with a heavy win over Loyola. They won all the four sessions of play and by mid-match they had already established a substantial advantage. Loyola did not live in the same street as their adversaries and Athleta could stroll into their opening league victory.
The champions introduced Miguel Gauci Montaldo from their second tier whilst Ivan Buldakov turned out for their opponents who also had their foreigners on show American Kenyale Evans and the Spaniard Antonio Jose Timor Sarrio.
After an initial triple from Loyola’s JP Azzopardi Athleta took the match in hand to go into a double figure lead after the first period.
Loyola were not so much better in the next session as Athleta kept on increasing their advantage and an early Kristin Baldacchino trey. 8-2 and 9-1 runs had them on a healthy 44-17 score at the interval.
After the break the story continued to repeat itself and this time it was Omar Said with a triple. An 8-1 run closed down the period for a hefty 68-28 score.
Athleta continued to pierce the opposing defence but Loyola managed to stage a reaction as Billy Zammit also netted a trey.
Still the champions had no trouble in adding on to their lead finishing a few points short of a century.
Marco Todorovic played less minutes than usual but still put in a solid 29 points with Said on 17 and Steve Schembri on 14 points.
Evans netted 16 points for the losers and JP Azzopardi had 11 points to his credit.
Athleta: M. Gauci Montaldo 2, D. Bugeja 6, M. Todorovic 29, M.
Giusti 5, Z. Borg 6, O. Said 17, S. Pace 5, A. Bonnici 5, K. Baldacchino 5, S. Schembri 14
Loyola: I. Buldakov, B. Zammit 6, AJ Sarrio 7, C. Cassar 2, S. Borg,
L. Azzopardi, S. Vella, A. Axiaq 7, JP Azzopardi 11, V. Nikolic, J.
Ransley, K. Evans 16
Referees: G. Barbara, E. Mangani, S. Gouder
Luxol turn tables over their opponents
Bupa Luxol 95
Floriana F. Fenech 89
(after overtime)
(20-29, 26-25, 21-21, 20-12) – (8-2)
This was a humdinger of a match. Floriana must be kicking themselves in losing such an encounter when they had the Violets chasing throughout the whole match. Then seven seconds from time Luxol tied the score went into overtime and won the match even though they lost Stephen Shackleford on fouls.
Luxol had their new player Jean Paul Schembri (ex-Depiro) but Andrew Micallef Trigona was missing. Floriana welcomed Dirk Schembri back from abroad but Clayton Calleja was indisposed.
Floriana opened up with a flourish and an 11-2 advantage. Luxol replied with a Nikola Vasovic triple but the Greens were back with another 8-2 run. An Ian ercieca trey helped them on to a better lead.
In the second period both sides were still piling up the points. Vasovic
netted a second trey and more Shackleford points had them a basket
down.
Floriana then put in their triples - one by Chris Sammut and two more from David Camilleri. Vasovic had his third Luxol trey and at the interval Floriana were 54-46 ahead with a century of points shared.
After the break it was even stevens as Luxol’s efforts to close down the gap met with stiff Floriana resistanceBevan Camilleri made a trey for the Greens with a same reply from Luxol’s CJ Cordina. Floriana held a 75-67 advantage with a period of play to go. Shackleford netted his triple as the Violets began to creep back into contention.
Floriana were unable to hold off their opponents losing two players on fouls and Luxol ended normal time with a 7-0 run as the teams went into overtime. Shackleford was lost to Luxol but they ended the match better than their opponents to sneak past Floriana and take the spoils.
Shackleford made up a considerable 42 points tally and Vasovic put in 25 points. Schembri had 26 points for the Greens and Phillip Thomas finished with 25 more points.
Luxol: CJ Cardona 7, M. Merciaca 14, J. Willoughby, N. Andreevic, S.Shackleford 42, JP Schembri 2, N. Vasovic 25, T. Paris, E. Bonello, E. Caruana Montaldo, JP Bonnici 5, S. Cappello
Floriana: B. Camilleri 13, D. Camilleri 6, C. Sammut 16, I. Mercieca 3, S. Sammut, D. Schembri 26, P. Thomas 25, M. Ciantar, S. Saakian
Referees: E. Mangani, A. Carbonaro, C. Terribile
Siggiewi keep Depiro in check
Pavi Depiro 57
Siggiewi 67
(8-18, 19-20, 14-12, 16-17)
Depiro are always wary when meeting Siggiewi and the latter kept them in check as Siggiewi went ahead soon after the start and them controlled their adversaries for the rest of the encounter.
Try as they did, Depiro could never overhaul their opponents and Siggiewi started off their league campaign with an important win.
Depiro were without Adrian Micallef and JP Schembri has now gone to Luxol. Siggiewi had Clayton Agius missing once more.
Siggiewi began with a 7-2 run ending with a Peter Shoults triple.
Depiro kept on chasing their opponents but Siggiewi ended the opening period with another 7-0 run and an Alan Borg trey. It was Chris Meier with more points for Siggiewi and a trey and Depiro were looking from a distance. An 8-2 run took Siggiewi to a maximum advantage.
Depiro reacted with a 9-2 run only to see Lee Ross netting a last second triple for a 38-27 Siggiewi lead at the interval.
After the break Andrew Aquilina put in a Depiro triple but Siggiewi managed to hold on to their advantage. Depiro’s next points had Siggiewi with a two hoop reply and a 50-41 score after three sessions. Depiro went near with a Nigel Sultana trey but Siggiewi’s lead opened up yet again. Roderick Vella sank a couple of triples as Depiro vainly tried to bridge the gap. Marco Matijevic ended the game for Siggiewi with his trey.
Meier totted up 22 points and Matijevic had 20 more points for Siggiewi. Shawn Morgan netted 22 points and Vella had 15 more points for Depiro.
Depiro: R. Vella 15, N. Sultana 5, K. Kun, A. Aquilina 3, A. Portelli 2, D. Agius 8, E. Lupo, M. Mallia, I. Tanti 2, S. Morgan 22
Siggiewi: R. Agius, L. Ross 5, L. Camilleri 2, P. Shoults 5, E. Xuereb 2, A. Borg 7, C. Meier 22 , A. Fekete 4, M. Matijevic 20
Referees: B. Vassallo, G. Barbara, A. Carbonaro