Luxembourg Phoenix opened their M-Nationale 3 qualifying round with a 73-65 home win over BBC East Side Pirates and moved into 1st place, with BEP 2nd after game 1.
The opening quarter changed direction quickly. The Pirates, coached by Gilles Poos, went in front 10-5 behind Larry Da Luz Ep. Harris and Claude Schroeder, but Phoenix answered through Elia Moussa and Joseph Zeidan and turned the period into a 24-16 lead. Coach Mathieu Jalwan's team pushed again at the start of the second quarter: François Tegho scored five points in a row for 29-16. BEP reacted with a 9-0 run to cut the gap to 29-25, but Phoenix finished the half much better and went to the break at 38-26.
The biggest lead came at 40-26 and again at 42-28 early in the third quarter. East Side Pirates stayed close enough, though. Harris, Pete Conklin and Gregory Schmit brought the visitors back to 53-46, and the game became genuinely close in the fourth when Schmit and Harris reduced it to 61-59. That was the key moment. Phoenix answered with composed inside scoring from Moussa, plus late points from Joseph Khazzaka and Tegho, and held the margin.
Tegho (CED) led all scorers with 23 and kept producing even after three fouls in the second quarter. Moussa (CED), 35, from Lebanon, added 19, while Oscar Khoury (CED) scored 13. For BEP, captain Harris (BEP), 44, finished with 21, Conklin added 13 and Schmit 12. Schroeder fouled out in the third quarter, an important detail as the Pirates were trying to complete their comeback.
(AI generated)