Résidence Walferdange won 74-65 at home in the M-U16 Division 1 phase finale and moved up one place to 2nd, while Racing Luxembourg stayed 6th and extended its losing run to seven games. For Walferdange, it was an immediate response after two defeats.
Racing started better. After 10-7, Uros Niksic's team produced a 10-0 run to go 17-10 up, with Nick Wallers (Season PPG: 30.67) already in rhythm and Elhadj Ibrahima Diallo (Season PPG: 13.15) adding inside scoring. Racing led 25-21 after the first period.
The game turned in the second quarter. Walferdange answered with a 6-0 start for 27-25, then kept building through Rafael dos Santos Antonio (Season PPG: 18.19), Jokubas Toliusis (Season PPG: 14.40) and Jokubas Banaitis (Season PPG: 4.47). From 21-25, Résidence went on a strong 19-3 stretch to reach 40-34 at the break.
The third quarter was the decisive sequence. Raul Leandro Birenbaum's side pushed the margin to 52-40 and later 61-45, its highest lead being 16 points at 65-49. Matas Sendzikas (Season PPG: 23.08), a 14-year-old Lithuanian guard, was central in that phase with 14 points in the quarter, finishing with 22. Banys added 10 and Toliusis 11.
Racing still made it tense. Wallers, who finished with 31, led a 9-0 run from 68-55 to 68-64, scoring repeatedly and keeping the visitors alive. He had major support from Diallo (10) and Mihailo Rilak (Season PPG: 4.00), who posted 7 points. Walferdange answered calmly: Nojus Banys hit two free throws in a row, Rafael dos Santos Antonio scored again, and Résidence managed the last moments. The only basket of the fourth period also came from Rafael.
(AI generated)