Malta-Azerbaijan 59-52
(16-12, 12-15, 11-8, 20-17)
After beating them by a basket difference, Malta again had to meet Azerbaijan, in the semis. Another tough encounter, with the visitors having their American naturalised player, Jordan Davis, missing through a back injury.
Malta had Aaron Falzon in their ranks, after his injury in the victory over the same Azeris, but he remained on the vbench.
A sound defence helped in this Malta victory, in a low scoring match, due to the two defences' control over the the opposing attacks. Malta were ahead for practically the whole encounter, but the Azeris were not that far behind, and continually threatened to overturn the score. Malta had to dig deep again, to overcome their opponents, but the Azeris were also guilty of lax play, which helped in the circumstances. Malta's overseas p0layers were on double scoring figures, but they had to rely on the tandem, David Bugeja and nathan Xuereb, to supply the goods for them. Samuel Deguara made his presence felt in the zone, and Nelson Kahler and Tevin Falzon provided the extra firepower, both from close in and from the zone perimeter. Haciyev was teh main dangerman for the locals, as he conti8nued his impressive performances, and Pashayev and Hajiyev made telling triples, to keep their side in the hunt, but the maltese stood firm and opened up their lead in the final stages of the match, after the Azeris had managed to draw level.
The final, against the strong Armenian side, can prove to be a classic, with the Armenians a touch above, seeing the way they disposed of the Andorra side, in the other semi final.
Malta: J. Zammit, D. Bugeja 4, A. Felice Pace, M. Brincat, M. Scerri, N. XCuereb 4, T. Falzon 16, I. Felice Pace, A. Falzon , K. Xuereb 3, N. Kahler 14, S. Deguara 18
Azerbaijan: E. Poladkhanli 2, A. Mammadov, O. Haciyeva 17, E. Shirzadov, U. Turgut, B. Tasher, S. Shirzadov 3, A. Hajiyev 9, Z. Pashayev 16, J. Akbarov, A. Hamzayev 5
Referees: A. Perciavalle (ITA) C. Mavisu (TUR) I. Esteve (AND)
Armenia 93 Andorra 66 (24-19, 28-15, 26-14, 15-18)