Telstar Hesperange B controlled the game in Wasserbillig and beat BBC East Side Pirates 70-53 in M-U18 Division 6: Phase 2. The visitors started sharper, with Gabriel Marques dos Ramos (Season PPG: 10.83) opening the scoring with back-to-back baskets for 0-4 and helping build a 9-16 first-quarter lead. By halftime it was 24-33.
The decisive spell came after the break. A third-quarter surge, driven by Nikola Angelov Mratsenkov (Bulgaria; Season PPG: 5.9), blew the gap open: he piled up 12 points in a few minutes, including a three and multiple drives, and then added back-to-back threes early in the fourth to push the lead to 40-61, the night's largest (+21). Telstar's captain Fabio Massimo Gilotti Gonzalez (Season PPG: 4.75) and Grégoire Leclercq (Season PPG: 6.86) added steady scoring and free throws, with Leclercq committing two quick fouls in the last period but without altering the momentum.
Pirates' captain Leo Carreira de Oliveira (Season PPG: 11.8) carried the offense with 26 points and a late burst he scored 14 of BEP's 15 points in the fourth quarter. Reinhold Kwaku Anobaah Acheampong (Season PPG: 5.0) and Yannis Pividor (Season PPG: 7.8) contributed at key moments, including three consecutive free throws by Pividor to briefly halt Telstar's run, while Tristan Noël Fievez (BEP) added 9.
Telstar's scoring balance stood out: Mratsenkov led with 25 (five threes), Marques dos Ramos had 18 on nine two-point makes, Leclercq 14, and Gilotti Gonzalez 7. Under coach Romas Degutis, Telstar extended its winning streak to five and jumped to first place (+4). Coach Aziz Ndiaye's Pirates drop to second (-1).
(AI generated)