Résidence Walferdange edged Etzella Ettelbruck 73-69 in a tight Phase 2 opener at deichwisen/central, surviving a fierce late push. Coach Dragan Stipanovic's side imposed itself early with a 9-0 burst from 11-10 to 11-19 in the first quarter, fueled by captain Nojus Banys (15, LTU) at the line, to lead 14-22 after 10 minutes. The visitors kept control in Q2 behind Rafael Dos Santos Antonio (Season PPG: 20.33) and Jokubas Toliusis (Season PPG: 15.00), stretching the gap to 35-47 at the half.
Etzella tried to change the tone after the break through captain Gilles Schock (Season PPG: 15.83), but back-to-back threes by Banys and Toliusis pushed the lead to a game-high 16 (37-53). Q3 closed at 50-62, setting the stage for a dramatic finish.
Coach Thierry Kremer's team caught fire late: Ben Schock (Season PPG: 14.33) and Dino Dragolovcanin (Season PPG: 7.56) engineered a 9-0 run from 60-71 to 69-71, with Ben stringing four straight points and Dragolovcanin drilling a key three. In the final minute, Jokubas Banaitis and Banys coolly hit one free throw each to seal it. An Etzella bench technical (C1) followed at 69-73.
Top performers
- Résidence: Dos Santos Antonio 22, Banys 18 (including three triples and a steady stream of free throws), Toliusis 15, and Luis Leocadio Botelho (Season PPG: 9.75) 10 with a timely fourth-quarter three while managing four fouls.
- Etzella: Gilles Schock 22 (three triples, five free throws), Ben Schock 16, Seid Muratovic (Season PPG: 16.63) 11, Dragolovcanin 10.
Head-to-head, Résidence had already won 76-46 in Phase 1; this time Etzella closed the gap but fell short. In the new Phase 2 table, Résidence sits 2nd (1-0) and Etzella 3rd (0-1). Résidence is on a three-game winning streak.
(AI generated)