In the phase-finale meeting between the teams ranked 1st and 2nd, Racing Luxembourg won 118-103 away at T71 Dudelange and stayed on top of the table at 8-1. T71 remained second at 6-3, and its three-game winning run ended, while Racing stretched its streak to six wins and moved to 3-0 against T71 this season.
T71 had the better start. Jonas Lies (Season PPG: 15.26) and Daris Honsic (Season PPG: 16.11) drove a 31-27 first quarter, and the home side still led 61-57 at halftime. Lies was already imposing his rhythm early, while Tom Kloos (Season PPG: 10.21) added useful perimeter scoring.
The game turned in the third quarter. After T71 went up 63-59, Racing answered quickly: Sarunas Sulcas (Season PPG: 16.50) kept attacking, and from 67-67 the visitors produced an 8-0 run through Yair Portal Levav (Season PPG: 10.78), Nick Wallers (Season PPG: 14.50) and Stefan Stoykov (Season PPG: 22.56). Stoykov, a 17-year-old from Bulgaria, then hit back-to-back threes for 83-73, a decisive stretch in a 28-13 quarter.
T71 still tried to come back. Lies cut it to 90-94 in the fourth, but Racing answered again and later reached its biggest lead at 115-97. Coach Hristo Stoykov's team kept its offensive pressure, while T71 had foul trouble: Charel Brettner, the 1.93m forward/center (Season PPG: 18.65), captain Justin Lux (Season PPG: 10.33) and Jesse Papa Muller all fouled out.
Racing's main scorers were Stoykov with 37, Sulcas with 31, Louis Cocard, the 1.89m guard (Season PPG: 15.05), with 21, and Portal Levav with 18. For T71, Lies exploded for 44, Honsic added 24, and Kloos scored 14.
(AI generated)