GŻIRA ATHLETA 68
HIBERNIANS 75
(16-13, 17-16, 11-24, 24-22)
A 17-3 positive streak within a short four-minute period late in the third quarter was the main deciding factor in this encounter which determined who will book a direct passage to the final which will be played in two weeks’ time.
In fact, trailing at 36-39 midway in the third rubber, Hibernians hit the reigning champions with a strong run to suddenly open up a double-digit lead. Gżira Athleta then tried as much as they could to neutralise this deficit, coming to just a three pointer away late in the game.
The first half was a totally balanced affair with Athleta taking a very early lead after treys from Luca Stefanovic and Ian Theisen only for the eventual game’s top point getter William Ahlberg to quickly reply with five consecutive points to give the Paolites their first lead.
However, by the end of the initial quarter, Gżira managed to regain the upperhand with Connell Crossland grabbing his first bucket on the day added with points from the local guards Shawn Pace and Nathan Xuereb.
The game’s tempo did not change in the second quarter with the lead also changing hands several times.
Hibs, who won the rebound game in this encounter, had a series of close-range hoops from their centres Ivan Demcesen and Marko Matijevic as well as a trey from the young point guard Paul Attard for a mid-quarter 25-21 lead.
However, it was Gżira Athleta who managed to change ends with a slender 33-29 lead after further Crossland baskets assisted by Nathan Xuereb and Matthew Gouder.
The game, which was also the last showing for Finnish referee Tuomas Mantere before he returns back home, resumed and this margin remained constant till mid way in the third quarter as a Milos Novakovic bucket had Athleta 39-36 ahead.
An Ahlberg trey had the teams tied and then Hibs continued with a positive streak, Chandler Rowe and Ahlberg pounding baskets for a 17-3 run which led to a double-digit Paolites lead.
Three back-to-back baskets, halfway in the last rubber, had Gżira reduce the margin to 58-64 and for the next four minutes, both sides replied to each other’s offensive ploys.
In the last minute, a Xuereb and-one play and a Crossland free-throw from two had Gżira piling pressure as there was a three-point game.
Gżira failed in their next offence allowing Hibs to make a quick transition with a Nikola Vasovic basket followed by an unfortunate contact underneath the board. When play restarted, Hibs made sure of the win with a final brace of shots from the charity line by Rowe.
While Hibs now have a week off from games and await the final on November 10, Gżira Athleta have to cross swords with Starlites GiG in the semifinal this Sunday.
GŻIRA ATHLETA: C. Crossland 15, S. Pace 2, B. Zammit, E. Sciberras, L. Stefanovic 6, S. Galea, N. Xuereb 10, M. Gouder 12, M. Novakovic 5, I. Thiesen 18, E. Abela, R. Abela.
HIBS: W. Ahlberg 24, P. Attard 6, D. Bugeja 1, K. Caruana, L. Farrugia, I. Bonett, N. Vasovic 10, A. Axiaq 5, M. Matijevic 11, M. Attard, C. Rowe 14, I. Demcesen 4.
Refs: B. Vassallo, G. Barbara, T. Mantere.
Starlites GIG 90
Depiro 81
(27-24, 29-19, 23-16, 11-22)
This was a win or bust encounter with both sides fully aware that only a victory could keep them in the competition given the double elimination competition format.
Depiro introduced the Serb centre Marko Todorovic in their ranks. The latter is not a new face in Malta, having played already for a couple of seasons some years back. Although needing more match practice, it was the latter that gave Depiro an early lead with powerful play under the opponents’ board.
Despite the fact that Starlites’ Konor Kulas started off his impressive offensive performance with his first hoop and brace of free throws on the way to a 43 personal points tally, it was still Depiro who maintained the slight upper edge as American import Quin Cooper also got his first buckets helped by Kurt Xuereb and Omar Said.
Kulas had four baskets in a row in the space of one and a half minutes and helped his side to edge ahead and later treys from Robert Bonnici and Kulas, and a Jeremy Marseille short range hoop neutralised Depiro’s ploys at the opposite end where Daniel Farrugia also had two personal buckets.
Both sides fought hard early in the second quarter with Depiro bringing the deficit momentarily down to a mere basket, 33-35.
In the next six minutes, Starlites managed to gradually distance themselves again through Kulas and Marseille and then Bonnici and Alec Felice Pace closed the half with three consecutive shots from long range.
Despite Michael Naudi’s three basket spread for Depiro, the two teams changed sides with the Naxxar side leading 56-43. This margin was extended in the third quarter with Starlites enjoying a 25-point lead at 77-52 with 12 minutes remaining.
Depiro, however, were not undone and had two good spurts early in the last rubber. Two 8-0 runs brought down the gap to 10 points.
With Starlites losing consistency, Depiro, encouraged by their play caller Julian Naudi, tried their last effort but late baskets from Bonnici and Marseille ascertained Starlites’ passage to Sunday’s tie against Gżira Athleta.
STARLITES: A. Felice Pace 5, M. Azzopardi, R. Bonnici 17, I. Felice Pace 4, M. Fabri, M. Falzon, M. Scerri, R. Carabott 2, I. Kumric 2, K. Kulac 43, J. Marseille 17.
DEPIRO: M. Todorovic 17, Q. Cooper 29, M. Naudi 10, D. Farrugia 4, N. Grech, O. Said 7, K. Xuereb 10, M. Borg, M. Brincat, J. Attard, A. Chomo 4, A. Attard.
Refs: B. Vassallo, Z. Dobrosavljevic, K. Dworniczak.