Basket Esch B won 78-65 in Heffingen after a strong second half, in a game that turned sharply after the break. The season series between these teams finishes 1-1, after US Heffingen B had won the first meeting 97-79 away.
Second-ranked Heffingen B started better and built the first important gap. With Joel Thesen (Season PPG: 23.24) and Max Schmit (Season PPG: 16.40) setting the tone, the home side moved from 22-16 to 32-18, its highest lead at +14. Heffingen still led 42-37 at halftime.
The decisive stretch came in the third quarter. After Heffingen stayed in front at 49-45, Basket Esch B changed the rhythm completely. Around Schmit's unsportsmanlike foul at 49-47, Esch chained 12 unanswered points to go up 57-49, then carried that control into the last period. Jules Frédéric Neuen (Season PPG: 9.94) was central in that run, scoring five straight late in the third. Esch won the third quarter 22-9.
Esch had more scoring options in the finish. Neuen scored 15, Ruben Vidal (Season PPG: 8.71) added 13, Damien Thill (23, 1.90m) had 12 in only his 4th game, while the 38-year-old 2.00m Hungarian captain Marko Latinovic (Season PPG: 12.72) closed with a late three for the visitors' biggest lead, 78-65. Laurent Tousch (Season PPG: 7.59) also gave 10 points.
For Heffingen, Schmit finished with 20 and Thesen had 17, but Thesen fouled out in the fourth quarter at 60-69, which hurt the comeback attempt. Louis Michel Kohn (Season PPG: 8.33) added 10. Basket Esch B now have back-to-back wins after a four-game losing streak and climb to 5th, while Heffingen B stay 2nd.
(AI generated)