Arantia realized a surprise on Saturday-evening by handing Etzella its first loss of the season 2020/21. On their home floor, Arantia won 85:75. Head-coach Christophe Ney was pleased with the performance of his team, Arantia is currently 5:2 on the season and in excellent position to reach the top 6 which gives teams a chance to compete for the title.
After an opening loss in Walferdange to restart the season, Arantia reacted well with a surprising home-win: „We were a little disappointed after the game in Walferdange but overall, the atmosphere in our team has been very good throughout the season and of course, after this win the team was excited », says Ney who is in his first coaching season in the Total League as a head-coach.
Etzella’s offense has been impressive so far, the team averaged nearly 100 points per game. On Saturday, Arantia held them to 75: „Everybody was present and ready to play on our side, we did an excellent job of rotating in defense to limit their open 3-point-shots which has been Etzella’s biggest strength so far this season. Furthermore, we were able to slow the game down and not allow them to play as fast as they are used to. Additionally, 3 of their main players were not available, that was clearly also a challenge for them to overcome. » Etzella only made 8/35 shots from behind the arc, they are normally over 40% from the 3-point-line.
Arantia’s record is 5:2 (5 wins, 2 losses) at the moment and they are surely one of the positive surprises this season: „We are in a very good position at this moment. The loss against Walferdange hurt a little but we reacted well and now we can play without any pressure in Dudelange on Wednesday. We definitely want to win that game, but if we lose, it would not be dramatic for our overall situation in the standings. After the Dudelange-game, our direct opponents are on the schedule, these will be very important games. » A complete game-day in the men’s Total League will be played from Tuesday until Thursday.
Picture: pressphoto.rtl.lu
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