Third-ranked Racing Luxembourg B beat sixth-placed Basket Esch B 83-72 and completed a 2-0 season sweep after the 69-59 win in the first meeting. RACB is now on a four-game winning streak, while LALB saw a two-game run end.
The game stayed open for a long time. RACB moved from 4-4 to 15-6 in the first quarter, with early impact from Xavier Engel (Season PPG: 17.33), Yves Le Sayec (Season PPG: 11.25) and Yann Fux (Season PPG: 4.90). LALB answered through Kevin Kelechi Nnganyadi (16) with 5 straight points to cut it to 15-11.
In the second quarter, Basket Esch B came back to 21-21 behind Laurent Tousch (Season PPG: 7.36), but coach Pit Schneider's team reacted with a 9-2 stretch to 30-23. LALB still stayed close, mainly thanks to Luka Stankovic (18, 1.90m), who already had foul trouble but still brought it back to 34-30 at halftime.
The third period was lively. Stankovic cut it to 36-35, then RACB answered with a 9-0 run to 45-35, powered by Giorgio Riboldi (Season PPG: 12.77) and Le Sayec. Esch did not fade: Nnganyadi, the experienced Hungarian guard Marko Latinovic (Season PPG: 12.81) and Stankovic helped reduce the gap to 60-57 after three.
LALB even tied it at 60-60 on Latinovic's three early in the fourth. That was the key moment: RACB replied first with 5 straight points, then Le Sayec hit back-to-back threes and Nicolas Muller (Season PPG: 8.70) added two inside baskets in a decisive 10-0 burst from 65-61 to 75-61, the biggest lead of the night.
Riboldi led RACB with 18, Le Sayec had 14, Engel 12 and Muller 10. For LALB, Stankovic produced 19 before fouling out late, Nnganyadi scored 13, Latinovic 11 and Tousch 10.
(AI generated)