BC Mess left Mersch with a 96-84 win after swinging the game in the middle quarters. Black Star, coached by Filip Dukic, started fast (22-14 in Q1) behind the power of Donte Bezel Pope (Season PPG: 32.29), who piled on early rim pressure. Mess, under Stéphane Frentzel, flipped the tone in Q2 (26-14) through control at the stripe and timely outside shooting, reaching halftime up 40-36.
The key stretch arrived right after the break. Mess exploded for a 30-17 third quarter, with Cobie Logan Barnes (Season PPG: 33.63) drilling five three-pointers across the night and fueling an early 3rd-quarter burst to 53-40, while Deanthony Kendrick McCallum (Season PPG: 24.38) kept adding points in a steady flow from the line (12 made free throws) and at the rim. The visitors' lead peaked at +18 (78-60). Black Star answered late (31-26 in Q4), but the gap was too wide, and an unsportsmanlike foul on Jérôme Besenius in the final period halted momentum.
For Black Star, Pope authored a 44-point show (10 free throws, two threes), and Desean Hampton (Season PPG: 18.56) added 28, matching his season high. Youngster Boayue (BSM) chipped in 7. Among the local core, Felix Urwald and Nils Bosdijk supplied small doses, while captain Norman Kloss battled foul trouble.
Mess's import duo decided it: McCallum finished with 34 and Barnes 25 (10 free throws, five threes). From the domestic group, Mika Cambiotti hit key perimeter shots on his way to 13, Jamie Freymann added 6 including a fourth-quarter three, while Nikola Sarkovic (8) and Leis Sabotic (4) provided depth. Fabbri Bruno Zinédine Gauthier (6) and Sarkovic both fouled out late without altering the outcome.
Game flow notes: Black Star opened on a 10-0 first-quarter run (from 6-10 to 16-10). Mess answered with sustained sequences at the line McCallum strung together several pairs of free throws and a volley of threes from Barnes and Cambiotti that broke the game open.
In the standings, Black Star sit 2nd (6-3). Mess climb to 5th (5-3) and, after three straight losses earlier in the sequence, are back on track.
(AI generated)