Etzella Ettelbruck controlled Sparta Bertrange 75-58 in the U22 qualification round at Deichwisen/Central, reversing the season's earlier forfeit result and snapping their run of five straight losses. Sparta opened fast, 9-1 after two early trips to the line from Nikolaos Papanikolaou, but Etzella answered with a 20-4 surge to close the first quarter 21-13. Coach Gavin Love's team blew it open in the second: from 28-20, Etzella strung together a 19-4 run to 47-24 and reached halftime at 49-26, their largest lead (+23) matched again at 75-52 late.
Balanced scoring carried ETZ: Noah Wolter (17, 1.80m) paced with 15, while José Miguel Domingos Sanches (Season PPG: 11.38), captain Marvin Delgado dos Santos (Season PPG: 18.78) and Sam Schaaf (Season PPG: 14.67) each added 14. Lenny Lopes Morais chipped in 8 off the bench and Oreoluwa Oke contributed inside and at the line for 8. Schaaf navigated foul trouble (four personals, two in quick succession early in Q4) yet still scored key late baskets.
Sparta, coached by Elton Jorge Ferreira, had their best spell after the break when Max Hagen (19, 1.89m) sparked with perimeter scoring, and Ata Tastekin (Season PPG: 10.20) and captain Louis Evrard (20, 1.99m) helped trim the gap. Papanikolaou (Season PPG: 9.14) was reliable at the stripe, and Jules Wurth (SPA) and Ari Marinosson (SPA) added interior points, but a 6-0 finish only narrowed the final margin.
Etzella's highest lead was +23 (49-26, 75-52). In the table, ETZ climb to 8th (+1) at 3-6, while SPA sit 7th at 2-8, now on an eight-game losing streak.
(AI generated)