Racing Luxembourg overturned a shaky start to beat Sparta Bertrange 101-84 in the M-U22 Qualifications. Sparta, guided by coach Karl Abou Khalil, opened with a barrage from deep: three consecutive triples by Théo Mc Leod, Tom Germeaux and Nikolaos Papanikolaou powered an early 11-0 swing and a 34-25 lead after 10 minutes. Coach Uros Niksic's team responded decisively in the second quarter with a 6-0 burst to close the gap, then closed the half on a 9-0 run to move ahead 54-49.
After halftime, Angelo Caruso (Season PPG: 22.57) took control, scoring five straight points early in the third and adding a later three as Racing pushed the margin to 76-64. The fourth quarter confirmed the momentum: back-to-back threes from Yair Portal Levav and Louis Cocard, plus a triple from Leo Backes (Season PPG: 8.86), stretched the advantage to a game-high +23 at 93-70. Papanikolaou (16 years, GRC) briefly reignited Sparta with nine consecutive points to make it 97-81, but Racing closed comfortably.
Caruso (19, 1.87m, ITA) led Racing with 25 points, supported by Backes (13), Igor Durovic (20, 1.87m, BIH) with 13, and a balanced 10-point trio from Aleksandar Babic (Season PPG: 12.5), Jules Cochet and Cocard. For Sparta, Germeaux (Season PPG: 19.67) had 21, Mc Leod (Season PPG: 20.8; 17, 1.79m, FRA) 20, Papanikolaou 15, and Tian Kuharic matched his season best with 13.
Racing climbs to first place (6-2, +1 position) and strings back-to-back wins. Sparta stays seventh (2-5) and is now on a five-game losing streak.
(AI generated)