Recap

Starlites profited off an injured Piotr Stelmach-less Athleta side to win and go two for two in this week’s games. However, it was far from simple for coach Paul Ferrante’s team as Athleta fought until the final second.

Athleta’s Malik Riddle hit first with a three-pointer and Juan Cefai hit from deep after Davonte Craven rammed through contact to dunk the ball for Starlites’ first points. Two more threes were in store to raise the game’s tempo with Riddle and Craven firing home at both ends of the court.

A physical encounter, both teams ended up in the bonus and points came left, right, and centre, with Athleta up by six after a masterful first quarter from Riddle.

Similar to the opening rubber, play was quick, and the ball was distributed from one side to the other, but it was Starlites who looked more focused and they went ahead with three scores, two of which came from three-point land. This went on as the Naxxar side extended their advantage to 10 before a late timeout by Athleta coach Christos Kousidis two minutes from the break.

Athleta looked the stronger side on offence as teams restarted play in the second half. However, defence was not at its best for the Maroons, making it more difficult for them to catch up. Nevertheless, they managed to cancel their deficit with four minutes to go and eventually went ahead with threes from Riddle and Cefai before the buzzer.

The two teams traded long-distance scores but when it came to points in the paint, Dajuan Moorer and Riddle caught the Starlites defence out, forcing fouls out of their opponents and getting into the bonus.

With 2.26 to go in the game, Craven hit from deep to give Starlites a two-point lead but Moorer tied with a putback. However, Kurt James hit twice with less than a minute to go to break Athleta’s hearts before Attard free-throws secured a three-point Starlites victory.