T71 Dudelange C won a close Phase 1 opener against AB Contern B, 61-55, and now sits 2nd in the classification, with Contern 3rd after one game.
The game changed direction several times. Contern started well through 15-year-old Max Welter (CONB), who scored his team's first 7 points, but T71 still edged the 1st quarter 18-15. The away side then controlled the 2nd period. A 10-0 run turned 18-15 into 18-25, and AB Contern B pushed the lead to a game-high 13 points at 22-35. Welter and David Lopes Meysembourg (CONB) drove that surge.
T71 came back strongly after halftime. Lorenzo Ethanaël Magoum (T71C) scored 5 points in a row early in the 3rd quarter and helped reduce the gap to 35-33, although Contern still held a 49-42 advantage going into the last period.
The decisive moment came late in the 4th quarter. After Contern moved ahead 55-53, Ronny Schanen's team closed the game on an 8-0 run and did not allow another point. Levi Neil Ten Besch (T71C) started that sequence with 4 consecutive free throws for the 57-55 lead, then Lucas Mutambayi Tshibambi (T71C) and Jules Wirion (T71C) finished the scoring.
Wirion led T71 with 16 points. Magoum and Mutambayi Tshibambi added 12 each, while Besch had 10 and made a major impact in the closing stretch. For Cameron Brooks-Harris's side, Welter produced 19 points, Lopes Meysembourg added 13, and Felix Zoller (CONB) scored 8.
(AI generated)