Etzella Ettelbruck, third in the phase finale table, answered the January loss in Esch with a very different game and beat sixth-placed Basket Esch B 103-53. Coach Dragana Zoric's team is now on a two-game winning run, while Basket Esch B has dropped five in a row.
The game turned early. Etzella opened 6-0, then pushed from 6-2 to 15-2, with Jahleeon Rocha Carvalho, the 13-year-old captain, and Mustafa Inal setting the tone. The first quarter ended 23-8 and already showed the main pattern: Etzella was faster to the ball and far more productive around the basket.
Esch had a better second period offensively through Gabriel Kühne Meza (Season PPG: 9.05), Alim Durovic (Season PPG: 12.29) and Sabahudin Dulic (Season PPG: 6.79), but Etzella still went to the break up 46-25. The visitors briefly scored the first four points of the third quarter, cutting it to 46-29, yet Etzella answered again and kept control.
The decisive stretch came at the start of the fourth quarter. Lenny Weber (Season PPG: 16.53) scored Etzella's first 8 points of the period in a row, turning 67-38 into 75-38. The lead reached 39 at 94-55 and finished at 50, the biggest gap of the game.
Weber finished with 33 points, including four 3-pointers, and Inal (Season PPG: 15.08) added 34. Rocha Carvalho (Season PPG: 29.20) had 19, while the Polish 12-year-old Konstanty Oldakowski (ETZ) gave useful support with 4. For Esch, Kühne Meza scored 16, Dulic had 12 before fouling out after picking up two first-quarter fouls, and Loris Micelli (Season PPG: 3.74) added 9. Etzella made 5 threes; Esch had none.
(AI generated)