Arantia Larochette overpowered Nitia Bettembourg 82-52 in Bettembourg, turning a four-point first-quarter deficit into a dominant road win and consolidating first place in M-U18 Division 3: Phase 1.
Nitia started fast. Behind the hot hand of Joan Hugo Francis Lumbu, who poured in 13 points in the opening period, the hosts built leads of 15-7 and 19-15 after 10 minutes. Lumbu then pushed it to 21-15 early in the second. From there the game flipped: Arantia stitched together a 13-0 run to 21-28, fuelled by three straight free throws from captain Lee Brosius (27, 1.92m) and inside finishes from Lars Bosdijk and Mathis Dieterlen (17, 1.83m, FRA). Halftime: 25-30.
A key moment arrived right after the break when Lumbu was charged with an unsportsmanlike foul (U2). Arantia capitalized immediately; Brosius took over the third quarter with 14 points, including two triples, while Maximilien Nuss and Bosdijk kept pressure at the rim. Arantia won the third 26-13 and never looked back.
The fourth mirrored the third. Bosdijk (14) controlled the paint, Nuss (13) kept finding gaps, and Vincent Diderrich (8) added steady scoring. Arantia stretched the margin steadily to the final +30, its largest lead.
For Nitia, Lumbu led with 20 but foul trouble slowed him and he fouled out in the fourth. Prosper Afakir added 10 and Thomas Jean-Claude Prigent scored 10, though Prigent picked up two quick personals late in the first half. Ilyes Ikherrazen and Haris Adrovic each finished on four fouls. Arantia's Max Daems committed back-to-back P2 fouls in the closing minutes, but the visitors' depth had already decided the contest.
Coach Karolis Abramavicius' group moves to 2-0 and remains top. Coach Qassim Sahraoui's Nitia drop to 1-1 and sit 3rd.
(AI generated)