Starlites Gig 99
Depiro 94

(after over-time; 24-26, 20-27, 20-20, 26-17, 9-4)

With the score 69-52 for Depiro, with 14 minutes to go and with the latter enjoying the lead for most of the game, few of those present at Ta Qali would have thought that the game was going to go into overtime.

However Starlites GiG had other thoughts and gradually clawed themselves back into the game and forced a five-minute overtime period with very late free throws and then also managed to close the game with a victory, netting the last seven consecutive points.

Both sides had regular players missing. Depiro once again had to without veteran Michael Naudi whilst Czech Adam Chomo was back in his homeland for the holiday period. On the other hand, Alec and Ian Felice Pace were not available for Starlites as they were away from the island.

The encounter also had certain disqualifications for Depiro on the summation of major fouls. Kurt Xuereb had to leave the court after only 13 minutes of play after two unsportsmanlike fouls whilst guard Omar Said did likewise three minutes from the end of normal regulation time.

During the overtime period, Depiro’s mentor Julian Naudi was also disqualified after amassing three coach technical fouls.

Points were aplentiful from the initial jump ball with Robert Bonnici giving Starlites the first lead with a brace of hoops but Depiro managed to go ahead by midway of the first rubber with Said grabbing a hat-trick of buckets together with a Xuereb trey and two close-range Marko Todorovic conclusions.

Although the Naxxar side had late first-quarter treys from Miguel Falzon and Jeremy Marseille, Depiro still managed to stay in front as Quin Cooper started finding his range on his way to be the game’s top scorer with 34 personal points.

Three balls from Konor Kulas and Marseille helped Starlites to open a marginal 33-31 lead when Xuereb was dismissed early in the second quarter.

However Depiro reacted strongly  with a 14-2 run as import players Cooper and Todorovic being assisted by youngsters Daniel Farrugia and Miguel Brincat.

The half time interval had the Mtarfa side enjoying a nine point lead at 53-44 and the latter also managed to extend this to a maximum margin of 17 points after six minutes in the second half.

Two treys from Matthew Scerri and Ryan Carabott respectively reignited some Starlites belief but Depiro still managed, with ten minutes to go, to maintain their half-time lead, 73-64.

Although Cooper was still precise for Depiro in the fourth quarter, Starlites started reducing the gap first through Kulas and then it was Scerri who had a hot hand with 11 personal points in this fourth rubber.

In the dying seconds of normal time, Depiro missed two free throws and with three seconds on the clock it was Bonnici who forced overtime with two shots from the charity line for a tied 90-90 score.

Todorovic and Miguel Brincat gave Depiro an early overtime lead but the latter then lost their coach Naudi on technical fouls.

Starlites managed to net four of eight free throws and then ascertained the victory with a late hoop from Jack Zammit, in his first showing this season,  and Kulas free throw.

Starlites: J. Zammit 2, Q. Bugeja, R. Bonnici 15, M. Fabri, M. Falzon 7, M. Scerri 22, R. Carabott 9, K. Kulas 30, J. Marseille 14.

Depiro: M. Todorovic 19, Q. Cooper 34, D. Farrugia 8, N. Grech 8, O. Said 13, K. Xuereb 7, M. Borg, M. Brincat 5, J. Attard, A. Attard.

Referees: Z. Dobrosavljevic, L. Camilleri, S. Jafilica.

Gżira Athleta 78
Bupa Luxol 56  

(20-8, 18-16, 20-17, 20-15)

Reigning champions Gżira Athleta closed off their first-round commitments en-plein when they registered their fourth straight win over a battling BUPA Luxol side still searching for their first league success.

The decisive moment in this game arrived quite early between the eighth and 13th minute of play when Gżira Athleta moved from a marginal 9-8 lead to a hefty 19-point margin. From then on, Luxol could never recover the lost ground.

Connell Crossland set Gżira going with three early hoops but Luxol maintained the pace in the early minutes as treys from Francesco Mifsud Bonnici and Jean Paul Schembri had them 8-9 behind.

In the next five minutes of play, spread over two quarters, Gżira Athleta made an influential step towards the win as they scored 18 straight points with first Peter Shoults and Nathan Xuereb helping Crossland and then, at the start of the second quarter, it was Ian Theisen and Shawn Pace who notched Athleta’s points who moved to a considerable 27-8 lead.

Luxol were having their Serb player Vukasin Jandric tightly marked but they still managed to reduce the margin by the interval after they registered a 16-7 run with Keith Dimech starting to find space to pot in his jumpers.

In the second half, Luxol had some positive moments when Jandric and Dimech found some open space whilst Schembri netted three threys but Gżira Athleta seemed never in danger to lose their lead as they kept on pounding continuously having also buckets from Milos Novakovic as well as Matthew Gouder who returned after a short lay off due to injury.

Gżira had a maximum 73-43 lead six minutes from time. But in the last minutes of garbage time, Luxol managed to reduce a bit the margin with young Philip Engelbert netting some close range hoops.

Gżira Athleta: E. Sciberras, M. Novakovic 8, C. Crossland 21, S. Pace 8, P. Shoults 7, L. Stefanovic 3, S. Galea 3, N. Xuereb 7, M. Gouder 12, I. Thiesen 9, E. Abela, R. Abela

Luxol: V. Jandric 14, P. Engelbert 5, E. Caruana Montaldo, F. Mifsud Bonnici 8, JP Schembri 15, K. Dimech 10, I. Pace 2, L. Trapani, K. Gauci, S. Cappello 2

Referees: B. Vassallo, Z. Dobrosavljevic, V. Nikolic.

Standings
Gżira Athleta 8, Depiro, Hibs, Starlites GiG 6; BUPA Luxol 4.