Racing Luxembourg edged Etzella Ettelbruck 77-75 in the M-Coupe des Jeunes 1/4 final after a tense finish. Etzella started brightly behind Lenny Lopes Morais (16, 1.85m), who pushed them to 10-4, but Racing answered with an 11-0 run (Cocard, Berger, Stoykov, Sulcas) to 12-20 and closed the first quarter up 24-19. In the second, Pete Rajniak drilled back-to-back threes and Oskar Berger (17, 1.82m, SVN) added another as Coach Hristo Stoykov's side built a 32-46 halftime lead.
Etzella responded after the break: a 6-0 start and later threes from Charel Wilmes and Lopes Morais cut it to 57-62 after three. The fourth quarter swung wildly. Yair Portal Levav briefly stretched Racing's gap before Wilmes hit a triple; Sarunas Sulcas answered from deep, but then Marvin Delgado dos Santos authored a personal 7-0 run (2, 3, 2) to flip the game to 69-67 Etzella. Stefan Stoykov replied with a three for 69-72; Noah Wolter and Delgado dos Santos put Etzella back in front 73-72. In the final minute, Sulcas scored for 73-74, Lopes Morais made it 75-74, Sulcas split free throws (75-75) and then hit the decisive two for 75-77, the game-winner in a one-possession finish.
Top performers
- Etzella: Lopes Morais 29 (four 3s), Delgado dos Santos 20 (including that 7-0 burst), Wolter 13, Wilmes 11.
- Racing: Sulcas 28 (10 twos, late-clutch scoring), Berger 11, Cocard 11, Rajniak 11, Stoykov 9.
Racing's nine made threes (Etzella eight) and slightly better foul-line output (6 vs 5) mattered, as did a broader scoring cast (seven scorers vs five). The highest lead was Racing by 16 (32-48 early in Q3). Coach Nelson Delgado's timeouts steadied Etzella's comeback, but Sulcas closed it out. No player fouled out; Lopes Morais finished on four fouls.
(AI generated)