Nitia Bettembourg took control after a difficult opening and beat Black Star Mersch 118-82 in this M-Nationale 2 qualification game. For the home side, it ended a five-game losing streak and lifted them to 7th place, a gain of three positions. Black Star, now 9th, suffered a third straight defeat.
Black Star started well. Mike Göhlhausen and Trey Sean Boayue pushed them to a 13-6 lead, and Bernardo Matos Pinto (25, 1.88m, PRT) added two early threes. The game turned late in the first quarter: from 20-21, Nitia finished the period on a 13-4 run for a 33-25 advantage.
Bradley Melton's team kept that rhythm in the second quarter. Nicolas Parrish (27, 1.75m, USA; Season PPG: 32.67) and Noah Horsmans (Season PPG: 7.80) stretched the margin to 45-31. Black Star answered through Leandro Da Silva Nunes, Palermo Cardoso and another Matos Pinto three, trimming the gap to 55-46, but Nitia still went into halftime ahead 59-46.
The decisive break came after the interval. Parrish struck immediately, Wesley Almeida added a three, and Nitia turned 59-46 into 68-48. Soon after, Sam Tibold was called for a disruptive foul, and the hosts kept rolling. The lead grew to 81-53 and then 91-58 by the end of the third quarter.
Parrish finished with an exceptional 64 points, including eight three-pointers. Horsmans added 22, Daniel Prior Torralba 10 and Christopher Teck 8. For Black Star, Boayue led with 18, Matos Pinto scored 12, Nil Madoki Bigas (Season PPG: 2.40) had 10, and Göhlhausen plus Tibold each added 7. The final margin of 36 points was Nitia's highest lead of the night.
(AI generated)