Etzella Ettelbruck moved up to 1st place (+2) and stretched its run to five straight wins with a 92-68 home success over 6th-placed T71 Dudelange, who are now on a three-game losing streak. Etzella also completed the 2-0 season sweep against T71.
The game stayed open for more than a quarter. T71 led 21-18 late in the first period and went back in front at 34-27 in the second after three-point makes from Christopher Jack and Davide Grun. That was the turning point. Gavin Love's team answered with a 20-5 finish to the half and turned a 7-point deficit into a 47-39 lead.
Philippe Gutenkauf (Season PPG: 17.00, RPG: 4.48, AssPG: 7.22) drove that swing. He scored 15 points in the second quarter and finished with the MVP performance: 31 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 7 fouls drawn. His shooting was excellent: 9/9 FT, 5/7 on 2-pointers and 4/5 from 3-point range.
T71 still stayed in contact early in the third quarter at 51-46, mainly through Maurice Calloo (Season PPG: 20.00, RPG: 7.11, AssPG: 1.00), who delivered 29 points and 14 rebounds with excellent 4/4 free throws and a good 8/12 from 2-point range. Jack (Season PPG: 8.05, RPG: 2.40, AssPG: 1.64) added 9 points and shot an excellent 3/5 from deep.
Etzella then took control again, closing the third at 66-51 and pushing the lead to 24 in the last quarter. Team shooting was a major difference: ETZ posted good 16/21 FT (76.2%), good 23/40 on 2-pointers (57.5%) and excellent 10/19 from 3 (52.6%). Thomas Henkel (Season PPG: 10.05, RPG: 3.23, AssPG: 1.52) added 15 points with an excellent 3/4 from long range, Nicholas Davis (Season PPG: 21.40, RPG: 9.79, AssPG: 1.93) had 15 points and 3 blocks, and Billy Ray Mc Daniel Jr (Season PPG: 11.75, RPG: 6.73, AssPG: 1.37) scored 10.
(AI generated)