Starlites’ debut in the FIBA Europe Cup showcased the Malta champions’ grit as they laid the groundwork for a potential fightback in Cyprus after an 81-74 defeat to Anorthosis Famagusta at the Ta’ Qali Pavilion on Tuesday.
It was a show of character from coach Paul Ferrante’s clan as they threw away any talk of ‘pro versus amateur’ with a strong showing ahead of their away leg on Friday.
Anorthosis took the opening tip and Jarvis Garrett put up the game’s first numbers with a three-pointer. Starlites responded with a Max Curran drive that led to the first two shots from the line, and eventually Starlites’ opening points.
The Cypriots fired again straight away with a dunk but a Kurt Xuereb triple levelled back terms early on. Looking to make a statement, however, Famagusta went on an 8-0 run before a Trevon Reddish Rhone shot from deep stopped this surge.
Foul trouble for Anorthosis put Starlites in the bonus with half of the quarter to go as the two teams looked balanced out on the court despite the disparity on paper. Scores from Joe Davis and Reddish Rhone made it a one-point game but two consecutive triples from Kentwan Smith and Garrett reopened the gap and forced the game’s first timeout. Starlites came back out looking to hit back but it was a four-point Anorthosis lead at the end of the first.
Starlites came out guns blazing in the second quarter tying the game with a pair of freethrows from Curran and a layup from Davis as Anorthosis missed their opening effort. Nevertheless, Anorthosis had their own say with another scoring run to open a quick seven-point lead in front of their wave of supporters who came to Ta’ Qali in full force on the night. Good shooting coupled with Starlites turnovers was proving costly as the two sides went in for halftime at 49-42 for the visitors.
After the change of ends, Starlites’ Carson Newsome reopened proceedings with a close-range effort before Garrett fired from three to cancel out the initial score. Anorthosis pushed forward with further scores, opening the game’s first double-digit lead but this lasted just seconds as Davis hit a long-ranger to bring back down to seven.
Starlites were again in the bonus with close to five minutes to go in the third quarter and Reddish Rhone became his side’s powerhouse as the game’s scoring runner-up brought the margin down to nine ahead of the final quarter.
With three players on four fouls, Anorthosis would have to be more cautious in their defence, but this was not the case on the day as Andrew Gordon was the first player fouled out and Starlites’ Max Curran was on target as the gap was reduced to just three points with just as many minutes remaining on the clock.
Starlites were hit with a tough blow in the final minutes as Reddish Rhone succumbed to his own fifth foul with 48 seconds to go as Famagusta saw the game through at 81-71.
STARLITES M. Curran 12, J. Davis, 21, I. Felice Pace, K. Mortensen 9, C. Newsome 6, T. Reddish Rhone 20, M. Scerri, K. Xuereb 6.
ANORTHOSIS A. Gordon 6, R. Eleftheriou, S. Iliadis 12, J. Garrett 19, K. Smith 15, G. Williams 12, K. Margkos 7, A. Himmonas 8, V. Ieronymidis 2.
