Telstar Hesperange won 66-56 in Mersch and stayed perfect in the M-U18 Division 2 phase finale. Coach Uchenna Ohpani's team moved up one place into 1st at 5-0, while Black Star Mersch stayed 5th at 1-5. Telstar has now won five in a row and also completed a third win over BSM this season.
The game was still open after a balanced first quarter, with BSM leading 12-11. Black Star had early production from Trey Sean Boayue (Season PPG: 24.88), but the turning point came in the second period. Grégoire Leclercq (Season PPG: 12.38), the 16-year-old French player, opened the quarter with 6 points in a row, and after BSM had edged back to 19-17, Telstar produced a decisive 13-0 run to 30-19. Santi, Lortilloir, Gilotti Gonzalez and Lopes da Costa all scored in that stretch.
Black Star reacted in the third quarter. From 22-40, Sam Tibold (Season PPG: 24.94) and Leandro Da Silva Nunes (Season PPG: 10.79), the 17-year-old Portuguese player, sparked a 9-2 push to 31-42. Telstar answered quickly and kept a double-digit margin, then reached its highest lead at 56-37 early in the last quarter.
BSM still made one more run, cutting the gap to 48-58 and later 56-62, but Telstar stayed composed at the line and in half-court offense. Raffaele Santi (Season PPG: 13.19), the 17-year-old Italian captain, finished with 21 points, Leclercq added 17, Juan Joyner Lopes da Costa (Season PPG: 5.70) scored 12 and Ceylian Lortilloir (Season PPG: 6.81) had 8. For Black Star, Boayue led with 20, Tibold had 15 despite 4 fouls, and Da Silva Nunes added 7.
(AI generated)