Sparta Bertrange won 81-63 away at T71 Dudelange and climbed to first place in the M-U16 Division 1 phase finale, gaining one spot, while T71 stayed fifth. It was Sparta's second straight phase-finale win over T71 after the 84-59 result in January.
Christian Michael Wulff's team established the game early. After T71 went up 2-0, Sparta built control through a 6-0 burst from 15-year-old Thandizo Jon Zulu (SVN, Season PPG: 19.13), moving from 8-8 to 14-8. A little later, the visitors added another 9 unanswered points and pushed the gap to 23-10, forcing T71 to play from behind.
T71 reacted better before the break. Max Schartz (Season PPG: 9.64) was central in that stretch and finished the half with 4 straight free throws, helping the home side close to 36-43. Captain Tunn Wirion (Season PPG: 16.67) also kept T71 in touch and ended with 16 points, while Finn Dondelinger (Season PPG: 10.21) added 8.
The key moment came after halftime. Schartz continued his strong scoring and reached 17 points, but Sparta answered every push. From 57-55? No once Sparta had 59-55 under control, they accelerated again with a 7-0 run from 65-57 to 72-57 and later stretched the margin to its game-high 18 points. Zulu led all scorers with 20, Maximilaan Flechtner (Season PPG: 17.93) delivered 15, Aaron Torresani (Season PPG: 8.85) scored 11, and 14-year-old Petar Kulisic (Season PPG: 14.60) gave Sparta another 11. Schartz fouled out in that decisive phase, which weakened T71's resistance.
(AI generated)