STARLITES GIG 71
GŻIRA ATHLETA 70
(18-17, 19-25, 17-15, 17-13)
Gżira Athleta enjoyed the first lead in the game but were edged by Starlites GiG by a sole point.
Two treys from Luca Stefanovic, an and-one play from Milos Novakovic and hoops from Matthew Gouder and Ian Theisen moved them to a 13-8 lead after six minutes.
Starlites had an immediate reply with a streak of three baskets. Matthew Scerri notched the first bucket and then Bobby Ahearn added the following two.
In the last two minutes of the first quarter, the two sides had a respective brace of baskets so that the Naxxar side went in to the first interval leading with a marginal score, 18-17.
Gouder had eight personal points when play restarted in the second quarter as the reigning champions re-established their lead.
Although Starlites tried to reply so as to draw level again and had positive plays from Robert Bonnici, Konor Kulas and the Felice Pace brothers Alec and Ian, it
was still Gżira Athleta that were showing the more constructive ideas.
Treys from Gouder, Peter Shoults and Shawn Pace moved them to a momentary double-digit lead, 42-32, one minute from the half-time buzzer.
In the dying seconds of the first half, a hoop from Alec Felice Pace and a three ball from Scerri helped Starlites to reduce the deficit by half, 42-37.
After the main break, Athleta still managed to maintain the lead all throughout the third quarter with further treys from Novakovic and Gouder and close- range plays from Theisen.
At the other end, Starlites continued to miss a number of free throws but they had a positive late spurt as Kulas potted a series of points to bring his side within a trey from the opponents, 54-57, with ten minutes to go.
Connell Crossland, who was reportedly injured during the week and who was introduced in the game twelve minutes from time, had the first basket of the last rubber and his side seemed to be gaining control when they opened a seven-point margin, 63-56.
Here, Starlites registered their best break in the game as they kept their opponents at bay for the next three minutes while notching 11 points themselves with three-long distance shots shared between Kulas and Bonnici as they re-took the lead 26 minutes from their last advantage.
A time-out helped Gżira Athleta to get back on track and a Shoults trey followed by a Crossland jumper had them back in front.
With the clock running down, Starlites continued on their negative free throw shooting trend as they missed six of their next eight free throws in the next two minutes.
A late Shoults penetration, six seconds from the final buzzer, had Gżira pip their noses marginally in front forcing Starlites to a late time-out to push the ball forward up the court.
Poor record
Kulas was judged to have been fouled by Theisen with four seconds to go and had two shots from the charity line. Up till that point, Starlites had a poor six from 19 free throws but Kulas managed to score his last two to put his side 71-70 ahead.
Gżira had no time-outs left to use and had to start the ball from under their own boards. Crossland received the ball at half court but opted to pass to the corner and Gżira Athleta then missed their last attempt for a buzzer beater.
Starlites GiG now meet BUPA Luxol in the semi-final stage while Hibernians and Depiro face each other in the other BOV Knock Out semi-final tie late in February.
Starlites: A. Felice Pace 6, B. Zammit, R. Bonnici 17, I. Felice Pace 5, M. Fabri, M. Falzon, M. Scerri 7, R. Carabott, K. Kulac 26, R. Ahearn 10.
Gżira Athleta: M. Novakovic 13, C. Crossland 4, E. Sciberras, P. Shoults 8, L. Stefanovic 8, S. Galea, N. Xuereb, M. Gouder 20, I. Thiesen 14, E. Abela, R. Abela, S. Pace 3 .
Referees: B. Vassallo, I. Simic, K. Dworniczak.