Racing Luxembourg edged Basket Esch 74-69 in Esch/Ho1 after controlling the first three quarters and resisting a late surge by the hosts. Uros Niksic's group set the tone early (16-12 after Q1, 32-24 at half) behind backtoback buckets from Leo Backes and an active Angelo Caruso. Racing stretched it to 55-43 after three, with Caruso (1.87m, ITA) cashing in multiple trips to the line and a layup in a personal minirun.
Dejan Pavlovic's Esch fought back in the fourth. Down 56-69, Benjamin Muller drilled a three, and Deni Sabotic strung together a sequence of free throws and a two to pull it to 66-72, then 69-72 with another Sabotic foul shot. Sarunas Sulcas (17, LTU) answered with a three and late free throw, and Backes added the final point to keep Racing in front. The visitors led by as many as 13 in the fourth; Esch's 13-3 reply made it a onepossession game entering the last minute before Racing closed at the line.
Key stretches:
- Q1: Caruso scored three baskets in short order and Backes hit two in a row to build an early cushion.
- Q3: Caruso posted four straight free throws plus a field goal; Sarunas Sulcas added a pair of scores to push Racing to +12.
- Q4: From 56-69, Esch went on a 7-0 run (Muller three, Sabotic two FTs) to ignite the comeback.
Top performers:
- Racing: Angelo Caruso 15 (Season PPG: 21.63); Sarunas Sulcas 15 (Season PPG: 7.80); Igor Durovic 13 (Season PPG: 12.60) before fouling out late; Louis Cocard 8; Leo Backes 8.
- Basket Esch: Deni Sabotic 16 (Season PPG: 18.75), the focal point of the late push; Matt Jaeger 11 (Season PPG: 7.67); Benjamin Muller 10; Fabien Vandler 9 (Season PPG: 17.00); Malik Demirovic 9.
Racing completes the season sweep (85-69 at home earlier, now 74-69 away), remains 2nd at 7-2, and extends its winning streak to three. Esch stays 6th at 3-6.
(AI generated)