Basket Esch took a close 76-72 home win over Gréngewald Hueschtert and moved up one place to 4th, while GRE stayed 6th and slipped to a fourth straight defeat.
Vincent Gevrey's team set the tone early with a 7-0 start and later built the game's highest lead at 29-17. Esch led 25-17 after one quarter, but Andrea Haris' side settled into the game in the second period and cut the gap to 36-32 at halftime.
The game turned in the third quarter. GRE's inside play became decisive for stretches, especially through Olivia Olsen (23, 1.90m, USA), who finished with 28 points and put together 8 points in a row to help level the score at 40-40. Esch answered several times through Joy Baum (24, 1.66m) and Tatsiana Likhtarovich (38, 1.80m, BLR), taking a 54-49 edge into the last quarter.
GRE came back again and tied at 58-58 midway through the 4th. Esch then found a crucial burst: Likhtarovich hit a three for 61-58, Jovana Jaksic added 2, and later Amra Hasanovic's late three made it 72-64. GRE still stayed in contact, with Olsen and Maé Manti (18, 1.60m) bringing it back to 74-72 before Likhtarovich sealed the result with the final 2 free throws.
The key statistical edge was Esch's excellent free-throw shooting: 17/18, 94%. GRE shot 17/30, 57%. Both teams were even on the boards at 42 rebounds, but Esch handled the closing moments better.
Top performers: Likhtarovich had 24 points with 8/8 free throws and 2/5 from three, while Baum added 21 points with excellent efficiency inside (8/11 on 2-pointers) and 5/5 at the line. For GRE, Olsen dominated with 28 points and 15 rebounds, and Manti scored 16.
(AI generated)