The Niners Chemnitz basketball team failed its dress rehearsal ahead of Saturday's derby against the MBC Syntainics from Weißenfels. The players of Head Coach Rodrigo Pastore lost their game at MLP Academics Heidelberg by 66:81 (50:42) on Wednesday. The eleventh defeat of the season meant the club from Saxony lost third place and had to let its opponents slip past it in the German league table. Michael Weathers (19) and Marcel Keßen (14) played the biggest part in Heidelberg's success. Kevin Yebo (16), Jeff Garrett (14) and Jonas Richter (13) scored the most points for Chemnitz.
After a strong start (16:7/5th minute), the visitors dominated the scene on court for large stretches of the first half. Chemnitz drained 67 percent of its shots from the floor up to the break and also had the upper hand under the boards (21:14 rebounds). The Niners stretched their lead to 56:46 by the 24th minute, but then collapsed completely.
In the final quarter, the club from Saxony only managed its first successful shot after just under six minutes. Heidelberg exploited this weak spell mercilessly and produced a 24:3 run to pull 70:59 ahead in the 36th minute. Chemnitz ultimately failed due to its 22 turnovers and poor free throw percentage. Only 14 of 30 attempts landed in the opposing side's basket.
