Arantia Larochette B, leader of the relégation group, handled 5th-placed Telstar Hesperange 101-71 in Larochette and took a third win against the same opponent this season.
Rui Nunes' team set the tone quickly. After Jamie Kappler's early three gave TEL a 3-2 lead, ARAB answered with an 11-0 surge to move to 13-3. The start was marked by the impact of 42-year-old Lithuanian Alvis Kasteckas, who scored ARAB's first 8 points and helped build the 21-9 first-quarter gap.
The home side kept control in the second period. TEL briefly reduced the margin to 26-18, but ARAB answered again, went up 35-20 and reached halftime in front 43-26. Pedro Nunes Jordao (Season PPG: 10.08) and Dylan Rocha Pires (Season PPG: 14.78) were already central in the scoring flow.
Christophe Thil's side produced its best basketball in the third quarter. Lorenzo Ferrari (Season PPG: 10.87) hit consecutive threes, Max Klepper (Season PPG: 14.06) scored 10 points in the period, and TEL cut the deficit to 58-54. That was the key moment of the game, but ARAB reacted immediately with a 12-2 finish to the quarter for 70-56.
That response carried into the last period. Larochette B opened the fourth on a 10-0 run to break the game open at 80-56, and the lead later reached 31 points at 99-68.
Nunes Jordao finished with 27 points, Rocha Pires added 25, Kasteckas had 20, Marc Backendorf (Season PPG: 10.00) scored 13, and 41-year-old Chinese forward Xu Lin added 11. For TEL, Klepper led with 18, Ferrari had 16, and Kappler (Season PPG: 11.50) added 14.
Even with TEL making more threes (9 to 7), ARAB dominated the inside scoring 32 made two-pointers to 16 and extended its current winning streak to four games.
(AI generated)