Musel Pikes controlled the M-U18 Division 1 game in Dreiborn, defeating Racing Luxembourg 79-66 after steady separation in each phase: 22-19, 21-17, 16-17, 20-13. The hosts built a 41-30 cushion late in the second quarter and, when Racing closed to 59-56 early in the fourth on a three by Louis Cocard (1.89m, 16), Musel answered with the decisive burst: a 10-0 run to 76-61 driven by Abram Macalou and Jules Henri Ghislain Jacquet.
Game flow mattered. Macalou (Season PPG: 23.00) closed the first quarter with 5 straight points for 22-19, then kept punishing inside after the break. Jacquet (24) was relentless on drives and at the line, finishing with 8 made free throws and 8 two-pointers (Season PPG: 16.11). Geoffrey Schlammes added 17 (Season PPG: 21.33), and Ben Matthias Schenk contributed timely points in the fourth.
Racing's reply came mainly from Stefan Stoykov (23; Season PPG: 20.75), who mixed mid-range and perimeter scoring, and Cocard (15; Season PPG: 13.78). However, after Cocard's triple cut the gap to three, he committed multiple fouls in a row and later fouled out, blunting Racing's momentum. Pete Rajniak's unsportsmanlike in the third also gave Musel free points; Oskar Berger added 10 but the gap widened late.
The free-throw line was a separator: Musel 18 made vs Racing 7. Racing did hit more threes (5-3), but Musel dominated inside with 26 made two-pointers. Coach Majdi Anan's side peaked at +18 (79-61) before late Racing points trimmed the final margin. Coach Hristo Stoykov's team suffers its first loss after eight straight wins, yet remains top of the phase standings; Musel climbs to third at 2-2.
(AI generated)