US Heffingen B imposed its rhythm in Esch/ho3 and beat Basket Esch B 97-79, staying atop M-Division 1 (9-1). The game swung late in the first quarter: after Esch led 16-14, Heffingen closed the period on a 9-0 run, fuelled by captain Manuel Scholtus (Season PPG: 11.74), who drilled back-to-back threes and finished with 31 points and seven made triples. Coach SCHOLTUS Manuel's side then stretched the margin in the second quarter on a Joel Thesen (Season PPG: 25.91) burst seven consecutive points (two 2s and a 3) that pushed the gap to double digits before halftime (50-35).
Esch showed resistance after the break, winning the third quarter 23-20 behind captain Marko Latinovic (2.00m, 38, HUN; Season PPG: 15.13) and Ruben Vidal (Season PPG: 10.14), trimming the deficit to 58-70. But Thesen answered again in the fourth with another personal streak of seven straight points (FT, 2, 3, FT), and Heffingen closed with 27 points in the period, reaching their largest lead at +20 (97-77).
For Heffingen, the local core was prolific: Scholtus 31 (7 threes), Thesen 24 (2 threes, 6 FTs), Max Schmit (Season PPG: 15.29) 24 with steady free-throw scoring, and Frank Jacoby (Season PPG: 13.8) 13, including a late three.
Esch's response came from Latinovic's 23 and Vidal's 18. Raphaël Gabriel Pierre Cessat (19, FRA) added 13 and scored eight in the fourth; Antoine Kühn (Season PPG: 11.4) and Jeremy Fischbach (Season PPG: 7.88) chipped in eight each.
Coach Franck Meriguet's team had reduced the gap in the third, but Heffingen's perimeter accuracy and timely individual runs decided the outcome. Heffingen extends its winning streak to five; Esch, fifth in the table (5-5), sees a three-game winning sequence halted.
(AI generated)