Second-placed Telstar Hesperange edged third-placed Basket Esch 79-77 in a tight Phase finale game and moved to 7-1, while LAL dropped to 4-4. Telstar also completed a 2-0 season sweep against Esch and extended its run to three straight wins.
The game changed several times. Telstar opened well and led 17-12 after one quarter, with Jules Cochet (Season PPG: 14.13) and Ceylian Lortilloir setting the tone. Esch answered in the second period, briefly going in front 25-24, but Telstar replied with a 6-0 burst to 30-25 and still held a narrow 34-32 advantage at halftime.
The biggest shift came in the third quarter. Basket Esch, driven by the 2.00m Emmanuel Jesus Frederico, 17, from Cape Verde, took control. He finished with 28 points, a season high, and Kevin Kelechi Nnganyadi added 15, all from five 3-pointers. Esch built the game's highest lead at 55-42. Telstar did not lose contact: a 9-0 response cut the gap, and the hosts were back to 60-61 at the end of the quarter.
That sequence prepared the decisive stretch. Telstar opened the fourth with a 10-0 run, turning a one-point deficit into a 70-61 lead. Grégoire Leclercq, Lortilloir and Juan Joyner Lopes da Costa dos S. were important in that push, while Cochet stayed efficient inside. Esch came back again through Jamie Zuang's 17 points and late scoring from Frederico, who reduced it to 78-77. Telstar then got the last point from Noah Kambire and held on.
Telstar had four players in double figures: Cochet 18, Kambire 16, Tomás Giordana Pi 15 and Lortilloir 13. For Esch, Frederico, Zuang, Nnganyadi and Benjamin Muller carried most of the offense.
(AI generated)
Telstar Hesperange 
Basket Esch 
