Floriana assured of a Play Off place

Floriana MCP 83 Hibernians 64 (22-17, 17-14, 17-17, 27-16)

This game was deferred from the start of February. The Paolites had to absolutely win this encounter, to keep their hopes alive, of a place in the Paly Offs. They failed, and the Greens will advance into the semis, with an outside chance of evading the fourth place, and climbing even higher.

This was Floriana's fourth consecutive victory over Hibs this season. The Paolites had a slap in the face, with their Spanish player, Alvaro Lizaur, having a facial injury, which kept him out for a good part of the match.

They still managed to go close, but faded away at the end, enabling Floriana to coast home to their win. Floriana's Chad Patus practically punished the Hibs defence, amassing a huge total of points.

Floriana made a solid start, rushing away to a 13-2 advantage, with Chad Patus, also with a trey, and Nikola Vasovic points. The Paolites recovered, to go to within a hoop of their opponents, as Simon Attard netted a triple.

Floriana opened their lead once more, , despite Marco matijevic points for Hibs. Patus late free throws had teh Greens on a better lead. In the next period Hibs overtook their adversaries, with Lizaur points, before he bowed out of the match.

Floriana had Vasovic, Patus and Shawn Pace sinking their triples, as they regained their advantage. They went on till the interval, when they were 39-31 ahead.

After the break the Paolites were back, to within a point, with more Attard points, and a second trey. Floriana's Anton Axiaq made a personal three hoop spread, before Adrian Micallef netted a Hibs triple.

Floriana reacted with a 9-2 run, and Patus points, along with another Pace trey. The Paolites reduced their deficit, but Floriana were still 56-48 to the good.

The last quarter had Patus nailing his fourth trey, as Floriana went into a double figure advantage. Hibs tried to get back in the match, but midway through the session they were hit with a Floriana 12-0 run, which sealed the encounter. There was still time for more points, at either end, and Fabrizio Mariani netted a trey for Hibs, but more Patus points were coming for Floriana, who were in command till the end.

C. Patus 42, S. Pace 9, S. Borg , N. Vasovic 15, C. Calleja 2, A. Axiaq 13, A. Micallef Trigona, N. Andrejevic 2

Hibs: M. Hampton, E. Xuereb, L. Farrugia 2, S. Attard 12, I. Bonett 2, A. Micallef 14, M. Matijevic 20, S. Vella , F. Mariani 6, A. Lizaur 8 E. Mangani, C. Farrugia, Z. Dobrosavljevic