Nitia Bettembourg beat North Fox 81-74 and climbed to 1st place in the relegation round at 4-0, with a ranking gain of one spot. FOX remained 5th at 0-4. NIT also took the season series 2-1 and now has four wins in a row.
Game evolution was marked by two very different halves. FOX controlled the second quarter 31-15 and reached the highest lead of the night at 48-34. Jacob Salinero (Season PPG: 6.10, RPG: 9.00, AssPG: 1.00) was the main force in that phase and finished with 27 points. Charel Linden (Season PPG: 16.88, RPG: 6.10, AssPG: 3.97) added 23 points, while 2.04m big man Jona Hanf (Season PPG: 8.95, RPG: 11.59, AssPG: 1.07) brought 7 points and 14 rebounds.
Coach Bradley Melton's team changed the tone after the break. Bettembourg won the third quarter 22-8, erased the 14-point deficit and closed the period at 56-56. Nicolas Parrish, the 26-year-old USA scorer (Season PPG: 18.82, RPG: 6.06, AssPG: 4.82), drove that comeback and ended with 29 points, including six 3-pointers. Cameron Brooks-Harris (Season PPG: 25.22, RPG: 12.57, AssPG: 2.57) was the MVP with 22 points, 21 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 blocks, plus an excellent 72.7% on 2-point shots.
The fourth quarter stayed open at 71-69, then NIT made the decisive 10-2 push. Jérôme Bous (Season PPG: 4.91, RPG: 3.28, AssPG: 1.36) produced 8 important points in that key stretch, and Christopher Teck hit the late three for 81-71. FOX had a good 56% from 2-point range, but only 13% from 3-point range and 47% on free throws limited them. NIT finished with 15 assists, 10 made threes and 4 blocks.
(AI generated)