Musel Pikes took control after the break and beat AB Contern 91-69, evening the season series at 1-1 after the 81-78 loss in Contern. Guy Schmit's team is now on a 3-game winning streak, while Contern's run of defeats goes on.
The game was competitive for a half. Contern started better and went up 20-14 late in the first quarter, with Joshua Ferguson (Season PPG: 19.00, RPG: 12.18, AssPG: 2.76) and Marcellus Garrick (Season PPG: 21.60, RPG: 5.63, AssPG: 4.38) setting the tone. Musel answered early in the second: from 18-20 down, they moved to 29-22, with Jaylen Key (Season PPG: 19.70, RPG: 8.65, AssPG: 1.24) finishing repeatedly inside. At halftime, the Pikes had turned it around to 44-37.
The decisive stretch came in the third. After 47-39, Musel accelerated to 63-43, a strong 16-4 spell that changed the game. Everette Hammond IV (Season PPG: 19.00, RPG: 4.71, AssPG: 3.00) hit from outside, and Konan Boglin Oth (Season PPG: 14.41, RPG: 8.15, AssPG: 1.71) kept producing on the glass and at the line. Musel's biggest lead reached 24 points in the fourth.
Oth, the game MVP, posted 22 points and 19 rebounds, while Key, a 28-year-old 2.01m USA forward/center, added 27 points and 13 rebounds. Hammond scored 22 with 4 threes, and captain Tom Welter (Season PPG: 8.55, RPG: 2.56, AssPG: 4.44) contributed 10 assists.
Musel were stronger in the collective numbers: good 51% on 2-pointers, 50-38 in rebounds, and 23 assists to 10. Contern had 12 points each from Mihailo Andjelkovic and Garrick, 14 from Ferguson before he fouled out, and 10 from Mathieu Arendt. Late in the fourth, Jeffrey Schumacher was disqualified after a technical and an unsportsmanlike foul.
(AI generated)