Telstar Hesperange D edged clubmates Telstar Hesperange B, 54-48, in the MDivision 3 championship round opener at holleschb2. The home side controlled the first three quarters, then survived a late charge to take the win.
TELD set the tone early through Sylvain Felten (43) and Norman Aust (48), building a 13-9 first period. Midway through the second quarter came the first break: a 10-0 run from 13-11 to 23-11, fueled by Felten's free throws and drives and Mike Bausch (44) inside. The lead stretched to 30-16 at halftime and peaked at +16 (43-27) late in the third. Coach Ronny Schanen's rotation brought steady contributions from Christophe Thil (50) and David Parisi (33).
Momentum shifted when Felten, TELD's top scorer, fouled out late in the third after scoring 15 (2x1P, 5x2P, 1x3P). That opened a window for TELB. In the fourth, Niels Habran added two quick baskets, and in the closing minutes Ioannis Papoulidis (31, GBR) caught fire: he authored an 8-0 personal run (two triples and two free throws) to trim 54-40 to 54-48. Coach Anastasios Kotsopoulos (27, GRC) had already spent time-outs in the 3rd and early 4th to halt TELD's rhythm, and the visitors' press finally paid off, but the gap proved just too wide.
For the winners: Felten (15) led before his exit; Parisi added 9, Alec Goedert (32) 8 with key fourthquarter baskets, while Aust, Thil and Bausch each had 6. For TELB: Papoulidis scored 15 (3x3P, 4x1P), Juan Menacho de Gongora (26, ESP) had 14, Rodrigo Rico Gomez (28, ESP) 7, and Habran 6.
TELD opens at 10 and sits 3rd in the classification; TELB drops to 01 (4th). Winners: Telstar Hesperange D.
(AI generated)