Etzella Ettelbruck beat Sparta Bertrange 69-61 at Deichwisen/Central and moved atop the table. Coach Gavin Love's side exploded out of the blocks with a 15-0 start (Zenners opened from deep, Davis dominated inside), before Sparta answered with perimeter shooting to close Q1 at 15-13. In the second quarter Etzella stretched it to 30-13 behind Adrian Delph and Nicholas Thomas Davis, then Sparta trimmed the gap to 30-23 at the half. A bench technical on Etzella's coach arrived in this phase.
After the break Davis took over: he rattled off three straight baskets and scored 13 of Etzella's first 15 points in the third, pushing the lead to 48-23 before a late Sparta flurry cut it to 48-38. Early in the fourth, McDaniel Jr. and free throws extended Etzella to a 68-38 high, but Sparta responded with a 23-0 run fuelled by threes from Williams, Verbeelen, Arendt, Holsten and the 16-year-old TASTEKIN, plus inside work from Iwuakor. Delph received a technical foul during the surge and Max Logelin later fouled out. Philippe Gutenkauf's late free throw set the final margin, with Etzella holding on as winners of a now-close game.
Team shooting told the story: Etzella were excellent at the line (10/11, 91%) and good inside (22/37, 59%) but struggled from three (5/27, 19%). Sparta hit a good 35% from three (13/37) yet finished at 30% on twos (9/30) and 44% on free throws (4/9). Etzella edged the glass (31-28) and won the turnover battle (10-14).
Top performers
- Foreign unit (ETZ): Nicholas Thomas Davis (Season % 1P: 58.9, 2P: 72.5, 3P: 0.0) delivered 25 points on 12/16 2P and a 14-rebound double-double, MVP of the game (33). Adrian Jermaine Delph (Season % 1P: 65.2, 2P: 58.6, 3P: 44.0) added 16, efficient inside.
- Local core (ETZ): Philippe Gutenkauf (Season % 1P: 86.2) had 7 with 5/6 FT; Frédéric Gutenkauf chipped in 5 and a key triple.
- Foreign unit (SPA): Jarvis Williams (36, 1.98m, USA; Season % 1P: 89.6) scored 11 with 3/6 from deep; Victor Iwuakor (2.01m, USA) had 9 and 11 rebounds.
- Local core (SPA): Yannick Verbeelen (Season % 1P: 84.4, 3P: 34.4) hit 12 on four triples; Philippe Arendt added 13.
Etzella string their seventh straight win; Sparta drop a second in a row after opening 11-0. New standings: Etzella 1st (+2), Sparta 2nd (-1). Coach Karl Abou Khalil's team remains within reach.
(AI generated)