Depiro beat Libertas for fourth straight victory

Depiro 75 Victoria Libertas 64 (20-13, 27-16, 11-15, 17-20)

Depiro registered their fourth consecutive league win to hold their place at the top of the standings.

They also had their double on Libertas having beaten them in a Shield match earlier on in the season.

Depiro recovered Myron Agius who missed their last two games and also Adam Chomo but were without Kurt Xuereb and Marko Zloh.

Libertas had Daniele Miani suspended but David Garcia was back for the first time after the festive holidays and they also introduced Wayne Spiteri back after missing a couple of seasons play.

Depiro opened up strongly making up a heavy 15-2 run as Chomo netted a triple. Libertas began to find their way to the opposing basket but Depiro slightly increased their advantage before Libertas struck back till the end of the session with a 7-0 run, mostly from Michel Farrugia.

In the next period, Depiro began to ease away from their adversaries once more as Jack Nygaard and Chomo put in their points the former with a trey.

Libertas had Emanuel Lupo to lead their charge with help from David Agius but Depiro were also aided by an Andy Attard triple and a couple of hoops from Matthew Borg as their side went in at the interval on a healthy 47-29 advantage.

After the break, Libertas began to make their presence felt more with Lupo, Agius and Bernard Soler amongst the scorers.

Depiro had Nygaard also with a second trey and Nicholas Grech to hold on to a good lead with a 58-44 score going into the last quarter.

A 10-0 run practically sealed off the match in Depiro’s favour but Libertas made a spirited recovery with a 16-3 run as Farrugia sank a triple and Miguel Brincat also making a trey for Depiro.

Both sides netted a brace of hoops till the end of the encounter as Depiro cruised to their victory.

Depiro: J. Vibe 2,M. Brincat 3, A. Magri, M. Agius 14, A. Attard 3, N. Grech 4, J. Camilleri, A. Chomo 18, M. Borg 9, J. Nygaard 22, M. Debattista Libertas: D. Garcia, M. Farrugia 17, M. Sammut 1, K. Galea, N. Petrucci 6, S. Mizzi 5, P. Caruana, W. Spiteri 2, E. Lupo 15, V. Barbu, D. Agius 10, B. Soler 8

Referees: E. Mangani, Z. Dobrosavljevic

Marvels nearly pulled off a surprise result with their daunting comeback. They had Andres Toompere missing but recovered Nicola Guida back from injury and Luke Azzopardi made his first seasonal appearance.

Luxol were without CJ Cordina, Karl Camilleri and Ben Caruana Montaldo but recovered Juam Navarro and Michael Steenkamer.

Luxol started off well enough going 11-2 in front as Vukassin Jandric and Keith Dimech netted triples. Marvels reacted with Marco Majic and Christian Briffa points but Dimech sank another Luxol trey.

Majic did the same at the other end and his side went close.

In the second session, Jandric nailed two more triples with Nicola Guida points for Marvels in between. Later on the Violets made more treys by Navarro and twice more by Dimech as Majic also netted his second triple for Marvels. At the interval, Luxol 36-28 ahead.

After the break, Luxol began to draw away from their opponents as Dimech let loose also netting another trey in a long 13-3 run. Marvels tried to hit back as Majic and Briffa led their attacks but Dimech was nearly unstoppable for Luxol sinking another brace of triples and his side went 61-45 ahead.

In the last period, Luxol held a maximum lead of 18 points in front but Marvels began their way back into the match with Azzopardi netting a trey.

Jandric stopped them briefly with four free shots in a row but Marvels were all over their adversaries putting in a creditable 15-2 run ending with another Azzopardi triple which shot them ahead.

But in the little time remaining Luxol overturned the score once more to claim victory and deny Marvels a huge surprise and their first win in the league campaign.

Marvels: G. Borg, M. Majic, R. Curmi, D. Debattista,D. Verebries, C. Briffa, D. Borg

Luxol: L. Djoric, L.Caruana Montaldo, V. Jandric, K. Camilleri, B. Caruana Montaldo, P. Cefai, K. Dimech, C. Calleja, M. Sjoberg, R. Falzon, CJ Cordina

Referees: N. Azzopardi, K. Dworniczak