Arantia Larochette bounced back from its previous loss and climbed two places to 4th in M-U22 Qualifications with an 88-72 home win over Racing Luxembourg, now 7th.
Daniel Alves Brandao de Sousa's team imposed itself quickly. Arantia opened on a 7-0 run and was already 13-2 ahead after early scores from Alan Genoud (21, 1.85m), Mathis Dieterlen (18, 1.86m, FRA) and Lee Brosius (18, 1.92m). The first quarter ended 22-10 and gave the home side control.
Racing responded well in the second period. After Genoud stretched the lead to 27-12, Uros Niksic's side answered with 8 straight points and gradually cut the gap. Igor Durovic (21, 1.87m, BIH) and Angelo Caruso (20, 1.87m, ITA) led that recovery, and Racing went into halftime only five points down at 35-30.
The key moment came just after the break. Arantia started the third quarter with a 14-3 run to move from 35-30 to 49-33. Brosius and Dieterlen were on a roll in that stretch, and the home team rebuilt clear separation. Arantia still led 67-53 after three quarters.
Racing made one more push in the last period, coming from 67-55 to 71-67, with Caruso scoring repeatedly and Noah Kraama (19, 1.88m, FIN) hitting from long range. Arantia answered immediately with a 12-2 run to 83-69, which decided the game.
Dieterlen and Brosius both finished with 25 points for Arantia. Genoud and captain Noé Tibold (20, 1.98m) added 12 each, while Sam Tibold (17) brought 7 and scored the final three points of the game. For Racing, Durovic also had 25 points but his fourth-quarter foul trouble became important and he fouled out. Caruso added 13, Timothée Lahure (21, 1.93m) scored 8, and Samuel Rehak (18, 1.84m, SVK) had 7.
(AI generated)