Sparta Bertrange B took control after a competitive first quarter and won 90-33 away to Nitia Bettembourg in the M-U18 Division 4 final phase. Sparta climbed two places to 2nd in the table at 3-2, while Nitia stayed 5th at 0-5 and extended its losing streak to six games. Earlier in the season, NIT had won the first head-to-head 65-63, but SPAB has now taken both final-phase meetings clearly, 86-52 and 90-33.
The game was still balanced early. Sparta led only 15-11 after one quarter, with Tom Wetta and Tomás Figueiredo Pinto (Season PPG: 4.56), the 18-year-old from Portugal, helping NIT stay close. Liam Raas also cut the gap to 9-11.
The break came in the second period. Sparta won the quarter 26-9 and opened a 41-20 halftime lead. Martin Cezard Mangel (Season PPG: 12.29), Sparta's 16-year-old French captain, drove that stretch and finished with 31 points, matching his season high. In that second quarter alone, he produced 11 points in a major scoring spell. NIT's best answer came from Gabriele Minoia de Almeida (Season PPG: 6.50), who finished with 10 points.
SPAB removed any suspense just after the break. Konstantinos Laliotis (Season PPG: 12.00) opened the third quarter with two straight three-pointers for six points in a row, pushing the margin to 27. Later in the period Sparta put together an 11-0 run to reach 60-24. NIT also had to absorb Hugo Palma Matias committing three fouls in the third quarter.
Sparta's main scorers were Cezard Mangel 31, Laliotis 18, Jules Wurth (Season PPG: 9.64) 17 and Luc Blanc (Season PPG: 5.54) 12. For NIT, Minoia scored 10, Figueiredo Pinto 8 and Jiabin Chen (Season PPG: 3.44), a 17-year-old from China, added 5. The visitors closed the game on a 20-0 run and took their biggest lead at the final buzzer.
(AI generated)