BBC East Side Pirates opened Phase 2 with a controlled 69-50 home win over Etzella Ettelbruck, shaping the game at the start and the finish under coach Aziz Ndiaye. The Pirates blasted out to a 10-0 lead as Nelly Ney (BEP) and Louisa Schmit (Season PPG: 24.2) set the tone, and they closed the first quarter up 19-9.
BEP pressed the margin to 23-9 early in the second before Etzella responded. Emma Klein (Season PPG: 15.67) authored the visitors' best stretch of the half, stringing together three straight baskets for six points in a row and, with a Sophie Nesen score, cut it to 30-22. Ney then answered with back-to-back buckets, and the Pirates took a 35-23 cushion into halftime.
Etzella's surge peaked in the third. Jill Maes (Season PPG: 21.8) found her range from deep twice, Klein added inside points, and coach Dragana Zoric's team won the quarter 18-15 to pull within 50-41. Any hope of a full comeback faded early in the fourth: Ney produced a personal 4-0 run and, with contributions from Emma Kasel, Schmit and later Julie Ronck, Maud Wagener (Season PPG: 3.0), Julie Bausch and Lena Lentz, BEP closed on a 19-9 final period to their largest lead of the night (+19).
Top performers
- BEP: Schmit 23 points (10 made 2s, 3 FTs), Ney 19 (9 made 2s). Liz Diederich (Season PPG: 8.0) and Wagener added 6 each. Schmit and Ney combined for 61% of the Pirates' points.
- ETZ: Klein 18, Maes 17 (including two 3s), Leni Kreins (ETZ) 6, Mia Luca Quinteira 4. Etzella had to navigate foul trouble for Eya Farhani (4) and Yana Lukic (3).
In the standings, BEP move to 1-0 and 2nd place (up three spots), extending their winning run to five games. Etzella fall to 0-1, 5th place, and suffer a fourth straight defeat.
(AI generated)