HIBERNIANS 82
GŻIRA ATHLETA 87
(24-21, 10-17, 28-20, 20-29)
The 2019 St James Hospital Shield final resulted in a highly-entertaining and uncertain affair which went down right to the wire with only details separating the two sides so as to determine Gżira Athleta as the winners, their tenth success in the Shield’s 33-edition history.
Three from their total of 11 three-pointers in the game helped Hibs to close off the first period with a slender 24-21 lead.
Their top point-getters, American Chandler Rowe and Swede William Ahlberg, shared the long distance shots at this stage with Gżira having Connell Crossland quite active around the opponents’ perimeter while Nathan Xuereb set off with a seasonal high game and another young element, Sean Galea, notching also a trey.
“I am extremely proud of the team today as it was a hard and physical game,” Crossland told the Times of Malta.
“The young guys on the team really stepped up in a big way. We can keep improving and getting better as an overall team and I believe we have what it takes to get more honours. However, we will take each game one at a time.”
After Ivan Demcesen preserved Hibs’ momentary lead early in the second quarter, it was Athleta who overturned the score for a 38-34 half-time advantage after two late treys from Milos Novakovic and further points from the young Xuereb.
“The coach created a very good environment with a good pre-game motivational speech,” Xuereb said.
“We fought till the last buzzer to get the win and we triumphed. It is a long way till the end of the season but I believe that if we work hard as a team, we can achieve more.”
Novakovic also admitted that it was a tight final.
“The match was uncertain until the very end, but with good defence and some important three pointers, we managed to end the match with a win. I would like to congratulate Hibs for a good and fair game,” he said.
“If we continue to train at the same pace, I am sure we will play well in the course of the season.”
Both sides had absences. Athleta’s Matthew Gouder was out with a broken rib whilst Peter Shoults was only on the bench after returning from injury. At the other end, Marko Matijevic was not utilised.
Hibs set off on a better note in the second half with Nikola Vasovic shooting well, assisted under the boards by Anton Axiaq and Demcesen, with Gżira trying hard to keep close mainly through Crossland and Xuereb’s penetrations whilst Luca Stefanovic banged in two treys at this juncture.
“We focused on working hard and together with our coach we managed to stay positive and keep our composure throughout the entire game,” Stefanovic said.
“The emotions were all over the place as Hibs always give us a hard time. At the end, all of our hard work paid off. This is a boost for us, so we focus and work harder on our upcoming season games to have another championship season.”
Halfway into the last quarter, a David Bugeja hoop and a set of four Rowe points moved Hibs to a 70-65 lead.
In the next three minutes, despite Ahlberg banging in two more treys, Gżira Athleta had a 12-6 run and jumped ahead after an Ian Theisen long ranger.
Theisen, a former South Dakota centre, said: “We needed to be much focused and the win showed we have a lot of character. Nathan and Luca really stole the show.
“It is very hard to win games when two of your starters are not able to play but for us to fight through that and continue to play well makes us all proud. We need to bring this focus to every game.”
Seconds later Stefanovic made it a four-point game only for Bugeja to answer with a similar long distance jumper at the other end.
With time running out, Gżira netted four free throws to ascertain the win to the joy of their coach Sasa Dimitrijevic.
“I believed we would win from the first minute,” Dimitrijevic said.
“We played hard, smart and very disciplined and am very happy for our young players Sean, Luca and Nathan who have given a lot of energy to the team. I hope the injured Matthew Gouder and Peter Shoults return quickly as they are needed in the team rotation.”
“This was a great win but we must continue to work hard. Being the champions, we must play like champions. It will be an interesting league as any team can beat anyone,” added the Macedonian coach.
MBA president Paul Sultana presented the St James Hospital Shield to the game’s top scorer Nathan Xuereb.
For Gżira this was their second title success this season after winning the Independence Cup.
HIBS: W. Ahlberg 20, P. Attard, D. Bugeja 7, K. Caruana, L. Farrugia, I. Bonett, N. Vasovic 13, A. Axiaq 11, M. Matijevic, M. Attard, C. Rowe 24, I. Demcesen 7.
GŻIRA ATHLETA: C. Crossland 16, S. Pace 2, B. Zammit, E. Sciberras, P. Shoults, L. Stefanovic 13, S. Galea 3, N. Xuereb 31, M. Novakovic 16, I. Thiesen 6, E. Abela, R. Abela.
Refs: B. Vassallo, Z. Dobrosavljevic, K. Dworniczak.