Holders Hibernians will face Depiro in the final of the BOV Basketball Men's 1^st Division knockout competition being played at the Basketball Pavilion in Ta' Qali on Sunday 31^st March 2019 at 16:15.

MBA President Paul Sultana BOV Chief Officer Peter Perotti addressed the Media accompanied by Anthony Cassar, committee member and Roderick Vella player for Hibernians and Julian Naudi, coach and Omar Said, player for Depiro during a pre-final press conference.

Paul Sultana noted the improvement registered by Maltese players during the season. 'In the initial games of the season, it was evident that there was a large gap between the foreign players and the local ones,' pointed out the MBA President. 'However the local players have stepped up their game during the season and have narrowed this gap thanks to the motivation of playing against a stronger opposition.'

Depiro coach Julian Naudi, in his first year as coach of a seniors' team expressed his satisfaction at reaching the final with a relatively inexperienced team. 'We have failed to make the playoffs in the BOV League, and this is our only chance of winning an honour this year. We are fully focussed on this last important game of our season hoping to crown it by raising the BOV Knockout cup on Sunday.'

'We showed great heart in our semi-final against Gzira Athleta coming back from a 20 point deficit at half-time to win the match' said Omar Said. 'With the exception of myself, all the other team players have never experienced playing in a final, but we are confident of a great performance that will add the cup to our trophy cabinet.'

'As two-time reigning BOV Knockout Champions, we are looking to make it three in a row,' said Anthony Cassar. 'We are also topping the league table and our target this year is to add both the BOV Knockout and BOV League to the Super-Cup we won earlier this season.'

'We are a very cohesive team, considering this is exactly the same squad as last year except for one player,' said last year's BOV Player of the Year Roderick Vella. 'I am confident that the experience of the players, especially under pressure will be a determining factor in this competition.'

'As a main sponsor of the MBA, we are delighted to see that four different teams won the four competitions held so far this year' said BOV Chief Officer Peter Perotti. 'This is hard evidence that the teams are very balanced and it is anybody's game come this Sunday. Both teams have won the competition 4 times and will be looking to add a fifth title to their trophy haul.'

The final of the BOV Men's Amateur League Knockout is also being played on Sunday 31^st March 2019 at 12:45.