The Final of the Elite Basketball Tournament was played between Starlites the Maltese champions and USA Select who won last season tournament. A highly intense game which saw both teams taking a small lead throughout the game leaving everything open for the second half. Starlites proved to be a strong opposition to USA Select and they managed to take the lead before half time for the score of 48-47.
The second half kept the same rhythm with USA Select players taking the limelight with their quickness and accurate shooting of Daequon Antoine and Dominic DJ Thomas. Whereas Starlites experienced players in Joe Davis and Carson Newsome were always a threat in offense gaining most of their points. In the last minutes of the game we had Daequon Antoine making two consecutive three pointers to take USA Select with a 6 point lead. There was not enough time for Starlites to recover and USA Select manged to take the championship win for a score of 95-88.
Best Players: Starlites – Davis (24 points) & Dominic DJ Thomas (28 points)
Mr Ruben Baldacchino, of Elite Sports Management,
“We have witnessed a great final with both teams offering a high level of basketball which entertained both sides of the spectators that came to support their teams. It was a final that could have gone either way, but it was USA Select who had the last say. I would like to thank the Malta Basketball Association and Visit Malta for their support, while also thanking the media for their coverage. We have been approached already by international clubs for next year tournament and this augurs well for sports tourism in Malta. We are aiming to enlarge the competition format to eight teams, six foreign and two local for next year.”
The 3rd place game was played between Hibernians and ARU University. It was another highly fought battle between these two teams. The first half was a close game with Hibernians taking the lead. In the second half it was Hibernians who managed to take control of the game thanks to their experienced players in Demcesen and Brown. A 10-0 run at the end took the Paola team to a comfortable lead which ARU University could not recover.
Best Players: Hibernians – Derek Brown (22 punt) & ARU Univerity – Gozim Nwokolo (19 punt)
At the end of the tournament the ALL STAR 5 players of the event were selected:
Guard – Jaequon Antoine (USA Select)
Guard – Dominic DJ Thomas (USA Select)
Centre – Ivan Demcesen (Hibernians)
Forward – Joe Davis (Starlites)
Forward – Jacob Spurrier (ARU University)
The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament was voted USA Select star Jaequon Antoine.
