League leaders Nitia Bettembourg confirmed their place at the top of the M-U14 Division 2 Phase finale with a clear 98-56 home win over 4th-placed Mambra Mamer, improving to 9-1 and extending their current winning run to nine games. It was also a second head-to-head win this phase after the earlier 85-80 success in Mamer.
Mamer opened through captain Tammo Becker (Season PPG: 9.00), but Nitia quickly answered with a 10-0 burst to move from 0-2 to 10-2. Mamer stayed close in the first quarter behind Becker and Khan Eyal N'Guessan (Season PPG: 14.26), trimming the gap several times before Nitia closed the period 25-18.
The game turned sharply in the second quarter. Coach Jérôme Defer's team produced a 13-2 run for 38-20, then, after Mamer's timeout, finished the half with 12 unanswered points from 41-27 to 53-27. Adrian Zianveni (Season PPG: 21.94) was central in that stretch, including eight consecutive points late in the quarter.
Nitia never allowed a comeback after the break. Ewen Leung, a 14-year-old French player (Season PPG: 33.18), kept the pace high and finished with 31 points, while Zianveni added 29 and Diogo Barbosa Conte (Season PPG: 9.77) scored 12. Nitia's advantage grew to 72-36 after three quarters and reached a highest lead of 48 points at 98-50 before Mamer closed the game with a 6-0 run.
For Mamer, N'Guessan led with 21 points, Becker added 12, and Mathieu Moccia (Season PPG: 14.45) had 9. Their better moments came early, but the second-quarter collapse decided the game.
(AI generated)