AB Contern edged Arantia Larochette 89-82 in a men's friendly at Contern/Central, decided in the final minutes. Arantia opened with an 8-0 burst to lead 2-8 and later 6-12, but Contern steadied: Landon Andrew Lowder (CON) drilled back-to-back threes for a personal 6-0 run to 19-19 and the hosts closed Q1 up 25-23.
The second quarter swung on details. Two unsportsmanlike fouls on Arantia (Vic Heuschling and Noé Tibold) handed Contern extra free throws/possessions, though the visitors stayed in touch, 47-46 at the half. After Olivier Summer (CON) hit from deep and Lazar Lukic (23, 1.95m) added two baskets, Contern built 57-50, only for Edson Rafael De Sousa Silva (ARA, 18, 1.88m) to fuel a reply from the line. Lukic then scored four in a row to close Q3 at 65-62.
The last act was tight. Michael Anthony Carter III (28, 1.96m, USA) pulled Arantia to 65-64. Lowder answered, and at 71-68 a C1 bench technical on coach Karolis Abramavicius arrived before Joshua Ferguson (29, 2.03m, USA) splashed a key three for 74-68. Dylan Rocha Pires (ARA) kept the guests alive with two late triples (77-74), and Arantia got as close as 79-78. From there, Contern produced a 10-1 run to 89-79, capped by Lowder's 2+1 and a dagger three; the visitors trimmed it to the final 89-82.
Game winners in a close finish: Lowder (33 points, five threes, 15 in Q4) and Lukic (21) for Contern under coach Anthony Franck Tomba. Ferguson added 19 and a momentum triple. Among the homegrown core, Lukic's late 4-0 and Summer's timely three mattered.
For Arantia, De Sousa Silva led with 19 (a stream of free throws in Q3), Carter had 14, Kevon Lamar Godwin (25, 1.88m, USA) 13, and Jonas Levickas (26, 1.98m, LTU) 10. Tibold (6) and Rocha Pires (10) contributed, with Rocha Pires' late threes keeping it in balance. Contern's largest lead was +10 (89-79); Arantia's reached +6 (6-12). Coach Abramavicius' C1 and the two U2s in Q2 were turning points in a game of runs.
(AI generated)