Etzella Ettelbruck stayed first in the qualification round at 2-0 with a clear 104-60 home win over Racing Luxembourg, who dropped to seventh at 1-1.
Racing stayed close for a while. Philippe Gutenkauf (31, 1.83m) gave Etzella early spacing with three first-quarter threes, but the margin after 10 minutes was only 19-15. Early in the second quarter Racing cut it to 21-20. That was the last real moment of balance. Gavin Love's team then raised the tempo, and Travis Henson (27, 0.00m, USA) went on a major scoring run: he produced 15 points during Etzella's surge from 21-20 to 42-25. The hosts still had to absorb a small reply, yet they reached halftime with a solid 53-38 lead.
The decisive break came after the pause. Racing reduced the gap to 56-44, but Jeff Keller (24, 2.03m) was then charged with a flagrant foul, and Etzella fully took control. The home side answered with a 20-3 run to 76-47, turning the third quarter into the key stretch of the night. In the last period, the lead kept growing and reached 44 points.
Etzella combined good team free-throw shooting (10/13, 77%) with good three-point shooting (16/32, 50%), and also posted 29 assists with 16 steals. MVP Philippe Gutenkauf finished with 26 points and 11 assists, with excellent 5/7 from three. Henson also scored 26, with good efficiency inside and from outside. Billy Ray Mc Daniel Jr (42, 1.96m, USA) added 11 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists, close to a triple-double. Marvin Delgado dos Santos (17, 1.90m) brought 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals.
For Racing, Antunio Xavier Bivins (34, 1.99m, USA) carried the offense with 23 points and 7 rebounds. Kley Cirikovic (22, 1.93m) added 12 points with excellent shooting efficiency, and Samuel Rehak (18, 1.84m) scored 10. Malcolm Wesley Richardson (32, 1.86m, USA) contributed 11 rebounds, 6 steals and 4 assists.
(AI generated)