Racing Luxembourg, now 9th and up one place, edged last-placed AB Contern 96-94 and completed a 2-0 season sweep. It was also a needed response after six straight losses. The game stayed tight from the start: Contern opened 5-0, Racing answered through Brendan Temple and Antunio Xavier Bivins, and the first quarter ended 22-22. In the second, Adam Radomirovic's team went on an 11-0 run from 24-24 to 35-24, but Contern came back well, mainly behind Marcellus Garrick, to trail only 49-48 at halftime.
The key stretch came around the third and early fourth quarters. The 33-year-old USA forward Bivins (Season PPG: 27.18, RPG: 9.52, AssPG: 1.16) produced an outstanding scoring game with 46 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals, shooting an excellent 13/18 on 2-pointers and 5/8 on 3-pointers. Racing reached its biggest lead at 65-53, then after Contern had cut it to 74-74, the hosts struck again with a 10-0 run to 84-74. Temple (Season PPG: 16.23, RPG: 10.28, AssPG: 2.76) added 20 points and 15 rebounds, while Flenard Whitfield (Season PPG: 9.82, RPG: 7.83, AssPG: 0.83) gave 11 points and 4 assists.
Contern still finished strongly. The 30-year-old USA forward Garrick (Season PPG: 21.60, RPG: 5.80, AssPG: 4.00) scored 27 points with an excellent 13/13 from the line, Joshua Ferguson (Season PPG: 19.00, RPG: 12.36, AssPG: 2.86) had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and Olivier Summer (Season PPG: 4.90, RPG: 2.44, AssPG: 1.20) delivered 14 points on 3/4 from 2 and 2/3 from 3, both excellent marks. Contern closed on a 13-4 run to tie at 94-94, mostly from the foul line, but in this close finish Bivins scored the winning basket. Team-wise, Contern posted good shooting at 83% on free throws and 39% from three, while Racing had good 75% free-throw shooting, good 37% from three, and a 41-34 rebounding edge.
(AI generated)