Basket Esch, now first after a gain of six places, controlled almost the entire game and beat Racing Luxembourg 111-78. Racing briefly moved in front at 11-9, but Franck Meriguet's team answered with a 22-10 finish to the first quarter for 31-21. The second period created the gap: from 24-31, Esch produced a 19-4 burst to 28-50 and went to halftime up 66-41.
Racing had its best reaction in the third quarter, cutting the margin to 61-77, but Esch replied immediately and closed the period on an 11-1 run for 88-62. The lead later reached 33 points.
Esch shot well across the board: 29/34 free throws (85%), 20/33 on 2-pointers (61%) and 14/28 on 3-pointers (50%), with 20 assists. MVP Quinten Gregory Dee Nelson (Season PPG: 21.00, RPG: 3.14, AssPG: 3.00) exploded for 40 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists, with excellent 10/11 free throws and excellent 8/13 from three. He also scored 8 points in a row to turn 9-11 into 17-11. Jordan Hicks, the 36-year-old 2.01m USA guard (Season PPG: 22.00, RPG: 4.00, AssPG: 1.33), added 23 points on 7/7 free throws and 4/6 from deep. Damien Thill supplied 13 points and 4 assists, while captain Clancy Mac Rugg had 10 points on 4/4 inside.
Racing stay eighth and have now lost three in a row. Jeff Keller (Season PPG: 7.33, RPG: 4.71, AssPG: 1.57) was the main bright spot with 20 points and excellent 10/14 shooting on 2-pointers. Samuel Rehak (Season PPG: 7.83, RPG: 3.14, AssPG: 1.00) scored 16, including 3/4 from three, before fouling out. Antunio Xavier Bivins (Season PPG: 20.33, RPG: 6.14, AssPG: 1.29) added 18 points and drew 8 fouls, but his foul trouble also limited Racing.
(AI generated)