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maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 24 APRIL 2019 20 BOV BASKETBALL SPORTS TITLE holders Hibernians will face Gżira Athleta in the best- of-5 playoff final for the BOV Basketball First Division League. MBA President Paul Sultana, BOV Chief Officer Peter Perotti addressed the media accompa- nied by Anthony Cassar, com- mittee member and Roderick Vella player for Hibernians with Sasha Dimitrijevic, coach and Peter Shoullts, player for Gzira Athleta during a press confer- ence held before the commence- ment of the playoff series. 'We are once again on the verge of the most exciting period of the year," Sultana said. "The playoff series will be the last one where we see 3 foreign players on court, and we will also see the local players who have made a marked improvement since the beginning of the sea- son playing alongside the more experienced foreigners." Perotti reiterated Bank of Val- letta's commitment to local sports especially to basketball, a relationship that can be traced for over 40 years. "We take this opportunity to wish both teams the best of luck in the final and we will be fol- lowing the series and eventually crown the new champions," he said. The Hibernians coach said it had become hard to win the league and even harder for a team to defend its title. "The increase in the num- ber of foreigners have changed the landscape of the year, and whereas last year we started out as favourites, we believe it is a much more level playing field this year. Since Athleta got their new foreign players in Janu- ary, we have only played them once, and we lost so they might know us better since we are basi- cally the same squad as last year. However I believe that the team has the right chemistry and de- termination to repeat last year's success." Athleta coach Sasha Dimitrije- vic, on his first year in Malta said that he has a lot of respect for his opponents and their team expe- rience. "I believe the teams are very balanced and it will be the best game-plan of the day and the cohesiveness of the team that will determine the victory. The 5 game series will test the fitness and resilience of both teams and we believe that we can be the ones to raise the trophy this year." "We are sure that we will have a series of intense battles on our hands," said Hibernians' Chad Patus. "We will stick to our game plan, which we are convinced will be a determining factor." "We started the competi- tion on the wrong foot, but the new foreigners signed by our club in January have com- pletely changed the landscape of our performances," said Pe- ter Shoults. "We have a deeper bench and the wider rotation of the local players will increase our play options making us more dangerous, with the option of fresher legs on court." The best-of-5 Playoff Final will be held as follows (all games at Ta' Qali Basketball Pavilion) Game 1 – Thursday 25 April – 7.30pm Game 2 – Sunday 28 April – 4.15pm Game 3 – Wednesday 1 May – 4.15pm Game 4 – Sunday 5 May – 4.15pm Game 5 – Sunday 8 May – 7.30pm The Final Best-of-5 series for the BOV Basketball Amateur League will be contested be- tween Gżira Athleta and the winner of the semifinal between Starlites and Siggiewi will be played as follows: Game 1 – Friday 3 May – 7.30pm Game 2 – Monday 6 May – 7.30pm Game 3 – Friday 10 May – 7.30pm Game 4 –Tuesday 14 May – 7.30pm Game 5 – Saturday 18 May – 3pm Holders Hibernians to face Gzira Athleta in best-of-five final

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