Musel Pikes, who moved up to 1st place, beat 9th-placed AS Soleuvre 95-84 after a game that stayed close for more than three quarters. Soleuvre started better and led 19-14 after one period, with Christian Parker (Season PPG: 24.0, RPG: 8.5, AssPG: 0.33) scoring 12 points in the opening quarter. Early in the second, Max Hagen's two straight threes pushed Soleuvre to its biggest lead, 26-17.
Musel then changed the rhythm. From 25-37, Philip Dejworek's team answered with a 16-7 run to cut the gap to 41-44 at halftime. The third quarter was the turning point. Soleuvre still led 54-52, but Musel produced 11 unanswered points to go 65-57 up. Soleuvre reacted through captain Gilles Weis (Season PPG: 14.6, RPG: 6.17, AssPG: 3.0), who hit back-to-back threes, yet Musel still carried a 68-63 lead into the last quarter.
The decisive stretch came after Soleuvre had closed to 78-74. Musel answered with a 14-4 burst, including 12 straight points from 80-78 to 92-78, and the winners' lead reached 17 late on.
Julian Hammond III, the 24-year-old 1.88m USA guard (Season PPG: 31.8, RPG: 7.29, AssPG: 5.57), was the key figure with 43 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, shooting 6/7 on free throws and a good 5/12 from three. Kyle Johnson (Season PPG: 19.6, RPG: 15.75, AssPG: 2.5) added 19 points and 19 rebounds. Captain Sam Streef contributed 14 points and 6 rebounds.
For Soleuvre, Parker finished with 36 points and shot an excellent 13/18 on 2-pointers. Weis added 15 points, while Gerald Drumgoole (Season PPG: 25.0, RPG: 5.5, AssPG: 2.33) had 12 points and 9 rebounds.
Team-wise, Musel had good shooting at the line (80%) and on 2-pointers (53%), hit 11 threes, and controlled the boards 50-35.
(AI generated)