Etzella Ettelbruck overpowered AB Contern 109-74 at deichwisen/central in the M-Enovos League qualification round. The hosts opened on a 7-0 run (Gutenkauf P. triple, Davis inside, Delph in transition) and controlled each segment: 26-15 after 10 minutes, 60-35 at halftime. A 10-2 second-quarter burst, sparked by two Tim Schomer (32, 1.86m) threes, broke the game open. In the third, a technical on Frederic Gutenkauf (32, 1.83m) briefly gave Contern a point, but ETZ still led 81-55. Early in the fourth, Igor Durovic (20, 1.87m, BIH) hit back-to-back threes to 85-65, yet Philippe Gutenkauf (30, 1.83m) answered with back-to-back triples and later added two more. Adrian Delph (25, 1.95m, USA) then scored 7 quick points to stretch the margin; the highest lead was the final +35.
Shooting told the story: Etzella finished an excellent 28/38 on 2-pointers (74%) while Contern managed 21/43 (49%). From deep, CON hit a good 9/23 (39%); ETZ went 8/23 (35%). At the line, ETZ struggled (4/12, 33%), CON was solid (5/6, 83%). ETZ also protected the ball (6 turnovers to 12) and edged steals 7-3.
Top performers ETZ: Delph (25 pts, 8 reb, 2 stl; game MVP, 26 PIR), Nicholas Davis (24, 2.01m, USA) 27 pts on 13/18 2P with 6 reb, and Philippe Gutenkauf 25 pts with a barrage of threes. Billy Ray McDaniel Jr (41, 1.96m, USA) added 11 and a timely third-quarter triple. For CON, Joshua Ferguson (28, 2.03m, USA) posted 22 pts and 11 reb (double-double), Lazar Lukic (23, 1.95m) had 20 but picked up an unsportsmanlike in the fourth and played through foul trouble, while Olivier Summer (27, 1.88m) scored 13.
Coach Gavin Love's side moves to back-to-back wins; Contern, under coach Gabor Boros, remains on a four-game slide. Note that ETZ fielded two professionals to CON's one, a differential that impacted depth and firepower. Attendance: 120 (64 paying).
(AI generated)