Malta international Aaron Falzon has signed with English British Basketball League club Leicester Riders. Falzon follows his brother Tevin who now plays in Italy with Pallacanestro Palestrina but had also played in the BBL with Bristol Flyers and Cheshire Phoenix.
The move to the UK comes after a short stint in France with Etoile Angers in the NM1 league, where he had produced good numbers but was not able to confirm his place with the side.
The former NCAA Division 1 player will be looking to make his debut for the Riders in their next game on Saturday against Surrey Scorchers (tip off: 6PM UK/7PM Malta).
Speaking to the team’s media, Riders coach Rob Paternostro showed his enthusiasm towards his new signing in light of a number of injuries currently present within the team.
“We’re excited to have Aaron. When we lost the players through injuries we knew we needed to bolster the squad and when Aaron became available we jumped at the chance,” Paternostro said.
“Aaron is another offensive weapon. A type of player that can stretch the defence and a guy that can put points on the board. He can really shoot the ball. We like what he brings to us. We think that his presence in the team will improve us.”
In his first interview with the club, Falzon explained how to him playing in the UK is a unique experience and that he’s looking forward to the start of his experience on Saturday.
“I’m looking forward to my first action on Saturday against Surrey. I just want to go out there and have fun and play hard,” Falzon said.
“It’s hard to expect too much so I just want to go out there and give it my all and have fun playing basketball and get ingrained within the team. I know it’s going to be a little bit of a process but It’s going to be good to be playing basketball again.”
Falzon will be the second player representing Malta within the Riders as he joins Sasha Lecuyer, who plays for the WNBL affiliate team Loughborough Riders.
