Basket Esch beat Les Sangliers Wooltz 79-63 in a game that remained open for a long stretch. Vincent Gevrey's team moved up one place to 4th, while Wooltz stayed 7th and slipped to a fifth straight defeat.
The start was balanced. Wooltz led 12-8 and still had the edge at 16-13, but Esch closed the first quarter with a 4-0 run for 17-16. In the second period Esch created a small cushion at 30-23, yet Joao Miguel Guerra's side answered well and came back to 34-33. Esch then finished the half better for 38-33.
The key moment came after Wooltz had reduced the gap to 52-51 in the third quarter. Esch answered with a 9-0 run to 61-51, shifting the control of the game. Early in the fourth quarter that became an 11-0 stretch to 72-54, the first clear break of the night and a decisive one. The highest lead reached 18 points.
Eden Nibbelink (27, 1.80m; Season PPG: 12.20) led Esch with 23 points and was on a roll around the quarter break, while Tatsiana Likhtarovich (38, 1.80m, BLR; Season PPG: 20.20) added 15 and hit an important third-quarter three. Jovana Jaksic (Season PPG: 11.20) scored 16, and Joy Baum (Season PPG: 14.40) finished with 12.
For Wooltz, Da'Ja Green (27, 1.64m, USA) kept her team alive with 24 points in only her third league game this season. Abby Niehues (27, 1.86m, USA; Season PPG: 11.20) produced 13 points despite four fouls, and Chiara Giorgio (Season PPG: 9.00) added 9. Lara Graglia hit two third-quarter threes, but Wooltz could not hold Esch's late scoring wave.
(AI generated)