First-placed Basket Esch C edged second-placed BC Mess B 65-61 in a close Phase finale game and finally turned the head-to-head after two earlier losses to Mess this season.
BC Mess B started better and led 11-5, with Eli Nosbusch (Season PPG: 18.56) already active inside. Roger Do Rosario's team reacted well: Esch closed the first quarter on an 11-1 spell to move in front 16-12. Enzo Neves Casemiro (Season PPG: 7.21) scored 6 straight points in that surge.
The home side controlled much of the second quarter. Marvin Rafael Semedo Gomes (16, PRT) and Paul Augustine Mendy Cardenas (Season PPG: 6.08) pushed the margin to 34-21, the biggest lead of the game. Mess stayed in contact through Nosbusch and Max Reiland (Season PPG: 1.78), cutting it to 34-27 at halftime.
The third quarter changed the rhythm. Deanthony Kendrick McCallum's team won it 25-19. Roan Musquar (Season PPG: 10.37) and Nosbusch carried the comeback, and Musquar's three-pointer brought Mess back to 51-50. At that stage, momentum had clearly shifted.
The last quarter stayed tense. Nosbusch, despite foul trouble from the opening quarter, kept producing before fouling out with 22 points. Musquar then gave Mess a 61-60 lead, but Esch answered with the decisive 5-0 finish: Semedo Gomes scored, Neves Casemiro added two more, and Mendy Cardenas sealed the final point.
Top scorers were Nosbusch with 22 and Musquar with 20 for Mess, while Esch had strong balance through Semedo Gomes with 19, Mendy Cardenas with 14, and 15-year-old Niksa Oroz from Croatia (Season PPG: 17.93) with 9. Esch now has four wins in a row.
(AI generated)