Etzella Ettelbruck won this cup round of 16 game in Steinsel, 73-65, after controlling the key stretches and pulling away each time Amicale Steesel threatened.
The opening was balanced, but Amicale briefly had the better rhythm at 12-7 after early scores from Maid Adrovic and Antoine Medeot. Gavin Love's team then answered with a 13-3 run, driven by Travis Henson (27, USA) and Deantoni Gordon (26, USA), to move in front 20-15 before Landon Seaman (24, 2.03m, USA) cut it to 18-20 at quarter time.
The second quarter was important. Gordon kept finishing inside, Henson added from the line and Philippe Gutenkauf (31, 1.83m) steered the offense well. Etzella slowly created separation and reached halftime up 38-30. Amicale stayed alive mainly through Conley Phipps III (26, 1.88m, USA), who was again their main scorer.
Steesel reacted well in the third. After trailing 32-42, they produced an 11-3 push to get back to 43-45, with Phipps and Seaman leading that spell. Etzella responded immediately, closing the quarter on a 10-2 run for a 55-45 advantage.
Amicale made one more push in the fourth, cutting the gap to 49-55 and later 56-65, but Etzella answered through Henson, Gordon and Marvin Delgado dos Santos (17, 1.90m), whose three-pointer was timely. The visitors' biggest lead reached 14 points at 65-51, and the late margin never became fully dangerous.
Phipps finished as game MVP with 24 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, adding good shooting from inside (8/13) and from three (2/4). Seaman added 13 points and 7 rebounds. For Etzella, Gordon had 22 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks, Henson scored 24 with 5/7 free throws and 3/8 from three, while Philippe Gutenkauf added 10 points and 9 assists. Team-wise, Etzella managed the ball better with 14 assists to 9 turnovers, while Amicale had 15 turnovers. Both teams were good at the line: Amicale 10/13, Etzella 13/17.
(AI generated)