Starlites win second final
Mellieha Libertas 74 Starlites Fijo 92 (17-23, 18-23, 18-22, 21-24)
The first final had Mellieha three points away at the final buzzer. This time around the Starlites' victory was more pronounced.
Mellieha again were missing their Serbian duo, Vukasin Jandric and Nenad Bukvs, due to a council decision, and although they were not that far behind, soon after the interval, a spate of triples took Starlites away , leaving Mellieha with a mountain to climb.
They suffered another early last quarter Starlites run, before recovering slightly, and not allowing their adversaries to coast further in front.
Starlites now only need another win, in the last three encounters, to be declared champions for the third time, after winning the top prize under the Virtus banner in 2017 and 2018.
Both sides had three pronged scorers, but Mellieha were lacking in their other players' scores, with Starlites having two more players on double digits.
Mellieha must surely up their performance, next Sunday, in the third match, to have any hope of stretching the Play Offs further, to a fourth encounter, but at the moment it seems like a tall order.
Mellieha's American, Austin Wrighten, who finished up as the game's top score, put in early personal points, and a triple. Starlites' skipper, Alec Felice Pace countered with a brace of treys, in another stirring performance.
Mellieha regained their lead, with a CJ Cordina trey, but Starlites had American, Myles Thomas, his side's top scorer, and Ian Felice Pace sinking triples, as they were again in front.
Their other American, Jacob Bates, netted a further trey, with Mellieha's American, Malik Seldon, making a couple of buckets, to lessen his side's deficit.
In the next period Mellieha began well, to go to within a point of their opponents, as skipper, Isaac Bonett nailed a trey. Starlites came back strongly, with a 10-2 run, and Bates' free throws, and their new advantage stayed till the end of the match. Mellieha kept pace for some time, but Starlites ended the session with three more triples, two by Alec Felice Pace and another from the unfamiliar Louie Farrugia. Wrighten netted a last gasp trey for Mellieha, but his side were trailing 35-46 at the interval.
After the break Mellieha again gathered themselves up, and their deficit was cut down to five points, as Cordina put in his points. Once more it was treys for Starlites, to increase their distance between the two sides, as Felice Pace, two by his brother, Ian, and American, Jamiah Haynes, had Cordina as their sole Mellieha triple against, and Starlites went into the last quarter on a healthier 68-53 advantage.
Starlites made the issue more than safe, as they pounded their opponents with a 13-2 run, ending with a trey from new entry, Miguel Fabri.
Mellieha had Wrighten to obtain their points, with help from Seldon, but Haynes kept up the good work for Starlites.
The end couldn't come soon enough for Mellieha, who scored the same tally as in the first final, but conceded much more in the second one.
Mellieha: A. Wrighten 24, M. Falzon 3, N. Vasovic , I. Bonett 7, M. Seldon 20, C. Briffa, M. Azzopardi, CJ Cordina 20, N. Sultana, L. Tanzini
Starlites: A. Felice Pace 21, A. Azzopardi, I. Felice Pace 10, M. Fabri 3, L. Riolo, M. Scerri, J. Bates 19, L. Farrugia 3, K. Xuereb 2, R. Carabott, J. Haynes 12, M. Thomas 22
Referees: D. Torok, N. Azzopardi, F. Ciurariu