The first-round phase of the Louis Borg Cup, a competition whereby qualification and all the rounds are over two legs played within a short span of time between each game, resulted in overall wins for Starlites Naxxar and BUPA Luxol who will now meet Hibernians and Mellieħa Libertas respectively in the semi-final phase in two weeks’ time.
STARLITES NAXXAR 174
GŻIRA ATHLETA 141
The first leg was a decisive factor in this tie as Starlites Naxxar managed to open a hefty lead which was too much for Gżira Athleta to recover in the second leg.
Shorn of the services of one of their American imports, Shawn Montague, as well as local guard Nathan Xuereb, Athleta found it difficult to contain Starlites’ play late in the first leg.
The proceedings were quite balanced until the start of the second half when an 8-0 streak, including treys from Francesco Mifsud Bonnici and Billy Zammit, put them 40-46 behind.
However, from this juncture onwards, the Naxxar side took full control of the game as they started netting points with consistency including a large 17-0 run in the fourth quarter, with Jacob Bates, Myles Thomas, and Alec Felice Pace all on song.