Etzella Ettelbruck opened the championship round with a convincing 81-58 road win at Arantia Larochette, built on a fast start and a dominant finish. Etzella led 29-19 after the first quarter, riding a 7-0 burst sparked by Lenny Lopes Morais (21) and the hot hand of Marvin Delgado dos Santos (22), who closed Q1 with 5 straight points. Arantia responded in the second: after trailing 23-35, coach Karolis Abramavicius called time and his team strung together a 10-0 run. Mathis Dieterlen (18; 17 years, 1.83m, FRA) hit 8 in that stretch, including a three to tie it at 37-37. Etzella still held a 39-37 edge at halftime.
The third quarter tilted back to the visitors. Gilles Schock's triple to start the half and a key three from Charel Wilmes pushed the gap to 59-50. In the fourth, coach Nelson Delgado's side delivered a 5-0 start to 50-64 and then a 9-0 closing run to seal the largest lead of the night at +23.
Etzella's perimeter was decisive: 11 made threes (Delgado 3, Wilmes 2, Schock 2, Noah Wolter 1, Lopes 2, Stéphane Rocardo Silva 1) to Arantia's 4. Arantia earned 12 points at the line to Etzella's 6, but the visitors' firepower from the field settled it.
Top performers: for Etzella, Delgado dos Santos (Season PPG: 26.45) and Lopes Morais (1.85m, 16) combined for 43, Wolter added 19, and Schock 8 with timely shots; Wilmes (8) fouled out late, yet Etzella still finished strong. For Arantia, Dieterlen led with 18, Lee Brosius (Season PPG: 28.82) scored 15 and drew fouls, while Tom Faber and Lars Bosdijk had 9 each.
Form and standings: Etzella extend their winning streak to four and move to 1st (+2) in the Phase finale; Arantia drop to 4th, their five-game run halted.
(AI generated)