Black Star Mersch overpowered Nitia Bettembourg, 96-51, in Mersch to open the Nationale 2 qualifying round. Rainer Kloss's team set the tone with a 30-12 first quarter and stretched it to 58-23 at halftime. The decisive blow came midway through the third when Kurt Matthew James II (30) poured in 11 consecutive points, pushing the gap to 73-32; Black Star's largest lead peaked at +51 (94-43).
Mersch's balance told: 31 made two-pointers to Nitia's 18 and 8 threes to 2, with free throws close (10 vs 9). James II led all scorers with 33 (13 twos, one triple, 4 FTs), backed by Desean Hampton (26, USA) with 17. From the core group, Felix Urwald (20) added 13 before fouling out, while Nils Bosdijk (19, 1.92m, NLD) had 8 and Jérôme Besenius (29) 7. Urwald picked up two quick fouls in the third and again in the fourth; captain Norman Kloss (23) also fouled out.
For Nitia, Bradley Gene Melton's side found rhythm in spurts. Chris Leclerc (30, 1.80m) scored 12 and Daniel Prior Torralba (30, 1.92m) 10, with a late mini-run in the fourth. Louis-Stéphane Lobe Lobas (29, 1.86m, FRA) also had 10, while Ewan Joris Mistico (32, FRA) earned three free throws early.
In the early table, Black Star jump to 2nd; Nitia sit 7th.
(AI generated)