Luxol Men champions for 13th time

Bupa Luxol Floriana MCP Car Parks

(25-12, 22-16, 23-18, 14-25)

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It was expected, after the two previous finals. Floriana gave their all and pressed strongly, especially when Samuel Deguara was on the bench, but they just couldn't overtake Luxol, who rode over the tricky moments, to be crowned champions for the 13th time, after a nineyear wait.

They won eight titles in the last century, and now four more, in the new millennium. They started the season with their American, Pierce Cumpstone followed by the Swede, William Ahlberg. The final piece was the signing of big Sam Deguara, who flourished under the boards. This time they had J.P. Schembri to start them off, with his triples, and young Keith Dimech was another stalwart, as he established his rightful place in the side, this season. Last, but not least, the evergreen coach, John Tabone, who has been at the helm for a long time and in fact being the longest serving coach in history of basketball.

And the Greens? They had the misfortune of having to face very tough teams in their three failed finals, the Independence Cup and MBA Shield, against Athleta, and also came a cropper against Luxol in this league title final Play Off. Any other time they would have carried off, at least, one honour, but it was not to be for them, losing back to back league finals.

Schembri began with a trey for the Violets. Floriana reacted and a Nikola Vasovic triple had them ahead, for the only time in the match. Luxol struck hard, with a heavy 19-2 run, as Dimech, and Schembri, twice, netted more treys. Floriana answered back, late in the session, but they had already fallen prey to their adversaries.

In the next session Luxol went on to increase their advantage. Two more Schembri triples had them on an 8-2 start. Then it was another 82 run, as Cumpstone sank his trey. C.J. Cordina got in the act, for the new champions, also netting a triple. Floriana reacted with a late 8-3 run, as Sean Borg, nailed a triple, but it was Luxol, cruising comfortably, at the interval, on a 4728 score.

After the break Floriana were more in the picture, but they were hit by Deguara's hoops, and could only share the points. Luxol took over, once more, with another 9-0 run, before Deguara committed his fourth foul and had to go to leave the match. The Greens didn't lose the opportunity and finished off the period by cutting down on their heavy deficit, led by a superb Dirk Schembri, who followed up on his exploits, in the second encounter.

Going into the last session Floriana still had work to do, being 4670 in arrears. They stuck to their task, coming up with a solid 14-2 run, which brought them closer. Deguara came on the court again and Luxol held off their opponents for some time, with Chad Patus netting a Floriana triple. Deguara was fouled out, but Floriana then had to contend with Cumpstone's forays for Luxol. His points ensured victory for the Violets. With so little time remaining, Floriana had to renounce the match, seeing that they had no hope of making up the difference.

Luxol became the new champions. Peter Perotti, BOV Chief Officer and Paul Sultana, MBA president presented the medals to the champions. Sam Deguara was awarded the MVP title and the Luxol skipper, Marco Mercieca, held aloft the winning trophy, as the Luxol clan began making merry, after their nine-year wait.

Luxol:

CJ Cordina 3, M. Mercieca 3, M. Sjoberg, J. Maistre, JP Schembri 17, K. Dimech 10, W. Ahlberg 3, P. Cumpstone21, S. Deguara 27, S. Cappello

Floriana:

C. Patus 13, D. Schembri 25, S. Borg 11, D. Agius , N. Vasovic 6, C. Calleja , A. Axiaq 11, A. Micallef Trigona 2, N. Andrejevic 4

Referees:

I. Simic G. Barbara, E. Mangani,