Phase finale leaders Basket Esch C stayed first by edging second-placed US Heffingen 58-55 in a tight return game, their third win against HEF this season after the earlier 52-45 and 75-42 results.
Heffingen started better and led 17-13 after the first quarter, with Diego Vaz Pereira (Season PPG: 10.80) setting the tone early. Esch answered in the second period and erased the gap, reaching halftime at 31-31. The third quarter was defensive and low-scoring; HEF briefly moved 35-31 ahead and still held a 37-36 lead going into the last period.
The decisive stretch came early in the fourth. Basket Esch C opened with a 5-0 run to take control, then kept scoring at the right moments whenever Heffingen got close. Niksa Oroz, the 14-year-old Croatian guard (Season PPG: 19.60), was the central figure of that finish. HEF cut the deficit to 55-56 through Michael Hostert, but Oroz answered with the last basket for 58-55, which stood as the game-winner.
Oroz led all scorers with 29 points and again made the difference for LALC. Enzo Neves Casemiro (Season PPG: 6.91) added 11, and the visitors also received useful support from Redzep Ramovic (Season PPG: 8.67) with 5.
For Heffingen, Vaz Pereira finished with 18 points, Mett Dostert (Season PPG: 9.46) scored 15 with three 3-pointers, and Jim Seyler (Season PPG: 6.00) contributed 10. HEF's task became harder late on when captain Deivys Almeida Monteiro and Dostert both fouled out in the fourth quarter. Coach Andrej Gruskovnjak was also charged with a C1 technical during Esch's final push.
(AI generated)