Telstar Hesperange B controlled Amicale Steesel B, 80-50, on terrain 2 after a powerful start and a decisive third-quarter surge. TELB blasted out 24-8 in the first quarter, fuelled by an 8-point burst from Ioannis Papoulidis (Season PPG: 14.71), who hit 2 threes and a two in succession to stretch an early 2-2 tie to 10-2, part of a 10-0 run. AMIB answered in the second (10-16) behind perimeter hits from Tom Rech (Season PPG: 2.36) and Quentin Leveque, trimming the gap to 34-24 at halftime. That spell coincided with an unsportsmanlike foul on Papoulidis and, moments later, a technical on Tom Hoffmann (Season PPG: 19.83).
The game broke open after the break. TELB stitched together an 18-0 run from 39-28 to 57-28, with Joao Iatarola (Season PPG: 4.86), Carlos Fabrega (Season PPG: 5.67) and captain Juan Menacho (Season PPG: 9.86) piling up baskets; even a timeout at 50-28 didn't halt the momentum. TELB's highest lead was the final margin (+30).
Individually, Papoulidis led TELB with 18 and three triples; Fabrega added 14 (including six free throws), Iatarola 14 with two threes, and Menacho 8 with two more from deep. Rodrigo Rico Gomez (Season PPG: 5.86) supplied 8, while Niels Habrán (37, Denmark) chipped in 8 as well.
For AMIB, Hoffmann paced the attack with 21 and four made threes, supported by Tom Rech (12) and Leveque (11). Leveque picked up two early fouls in the first quarter and eventually fouled out in the fourth, which blunted AMIB's late push.
In form terms, TELB string back-to-back wins after five straight losses. In the updated classification, AMIB sit 3rd (ranking gain +3, 4-3), while TELB climb to 9th (gain +1, 2-5). Coaches Ronny Schanen (TELB) and Tom Rech (AMIB) both leaned on the three-point line, but TELB's third-quarter run decided the contest.
(AI generated)