Luxol draw first blood

Bupa Luxol 80 Floriana MCP Car Parks 72 (16-18, 24-13, 20-15, 2026)

The first step has been taken by Luxol, in their quest to capture the league title, since 2009.

They warded off Floriana’s challenge, with the Greens coming back from a heavy deficit, to cause some worries.

Luxol then settled the matter, midway through the last quarter, with Floriana still making their presence felt, in the latter stages of the encounter, as their triples found their mark.

Unfortunately, Shawn Pace can only be a spectator for the final series, having to undergo a cruciate knee operation in the coming days.

Luxol made an auspicious start, with a series of treys from four different players, William Ahlberg, Pierce Cumpstone, JP Schembri and Keith Dimech.

To counteract this Floriana had Chad Patus making up a personal 8-0 run, with two of his treys, to tie the score.

Soon after the Greens were ahead for the first time, with a Dirk Schembri hoop.

The Violets drew level, but more Schembri free throws had Floriana in front once more. Luxol overturned the score, at the start of the second period, with another Schembri triple.

The Floriana skipper, Clayton Calleja, then gave his side their last lead of the match, with his only hoop of the game. Luxol geared themselves up, and put in an 13-2 run, to forge decisively in front, as Ahlberg sank another triple.

Nikola Vasovic stopped them with his triple, bur Samuel Deguara, who was bogged down, in the opening session, began to make his contribution, to keep Luxol’s advantage constant. Patus managed another triple for Floriana, but they were still 31-40 behind, at the interval.

After the break Luxol drove home their grip on the match. A starting, heavy, 14-2 run, had them away from their adversaries, as Schembri and Ahlberg netted their treys.

Floriana made a reaction, with a 9-0 run, as Vasovic made his points and Patus sank a triple. Hoops at either end took the score to 60-46 in Luxol’s favour. In the last session Floriana had to make their try, and they did, but they were thwarted with Deguara’s dominance in the paint.

Still, the Greens dragged back some more points, but Luxol’s points, from the free shot line kept them in a comfortable position.

Patus tried his utmost, and he managed three treys in a short time, in a good 11-2 run, as Floriana drew much closer.

Luxol’s next points settled the issue, in the little time left, with Vasovic nailing a very late Florianatrey, to close down the scoring.

The second match in the series will be played next Wednesday, at 7.30pm.

CJ Cordina, M. Mercieca, M. Sjoberg, J. Maistre, JP Schembri 11, K. Dimech 7, W. Ahlberg 12, P. Cumpstone 16, S. Deguara 28, S. Cappello 6

C. Patus 34, D. Schembri 11, S. Borg, D. Agius, N. Vasovic 18, C. Calleja 2, A. Axiaq 2, A. Micallef 5, N. Andrejevic B. Vassallo, E. Mangani, I. Simic