The German league basketball team Niners Chemnitz has suffered a setback in the battle for the playoffs. The team of Head Coach Rodrigo Pastore suffered a clear 62:89 (40:43) defeat at home to third-placed BMA365 Bamberg Baskets on Monday evening. Kevin Yebo was the Niners' best scorer with twelve points and, despite the defeat, they remain in tenth place with 28:34 points, which entitles them to participate in the play-in games.
Chemnitz got off to a promising start to the game, but lost the thread from midway through the first quarter. They conceded unnecessary turnovers and so facilitated a 13:3 run by Bamberg to make it 20:12 (7th minute). There was then a half-hour stoppage due to technical problems with the scoreboard. The home side then returned to the court with more energy and fought its way back to within three points by the break.
After the break, the Niners even briefly took the lead (45:43) before completely losing their structure in offense. Since they also lost all intensity in defense, Bamberg's strong players produced a 20:1 run to pull 63:46 ahead in the 27th minute. Chemnitz then resigned itself to its fate.
