Telstar Hesperange won 77-60 at Kordall Steelers in the Phase finale return game and split the season series at 1-1 after KDS had taken the first meeting 83-68 away.
The game was controlled for long stretches by Telstar. They moved in front early, led 16-10 after the first quarter, and absorbed Kordall's best second-quarter push. KDS came back to 18-18 behind Jayson Otiu (Season PPG: 14.56), who scored the team's first 8 points of the period, but Telstar answered with a decisive burst. From 24-26, captain Stanislaw Jan Kwasniewski, a 14-year-old from Poland (Season PPG: 13.91), drove the game with 11 straight points for TEL and the visitors reached halftime up 39-26.
Kordall reacted well after the break. Coach Arnaud Sirjean's side cut the gap from 26-41 to 39-43 with a 13-2 run, and later came as close as 47-51. Otiu stayed aggressive, Liam Alexander Jovanovic (Season PPG: 17.57) brought inside scoring plus KDS's only three-pointer, and 12-year-old Adham Asfarelouldidi from France (Season PPG: 12.56) added steady support.
Still, Telstar never lost control completely. They entered the last quarter ahead 55-48, then shut the door after KDS reduced the margin to 54-65. TEL produced 12 unanswered points to open their biggest lead at 77-54. Kordall closed with 6 straight points, but the outcome was already set.
Kwasniewski finished with a game-high 33 points despite four fouls. Martin Chini (Season PPG: 7.62) added 15 and Martin Giordana Pi (Season PPG: 9.77) scored 8. For KDS, Otiu had 20, Jovanovic 13 and Asfarelouldidi 11.
In the new standings, Kordall remain first at 5-2, while Telstar climb one place to fourth at 3-4.
(AI generated)