The Niners Chemnitz basketball team have continued their winning run through Europe. Coach Rodrigo Pastore's charges won the first leg of the semi-final of the Fiba Europe Cup at Bilbao Baskets by 98:73 (41:46) on Wednesday and are therefore close to reaching the final. The second leg is scheduled for April 3. The Saxons can then perfect the greatest success in the club's history.
The key to the success in the Basque Country was the compact team performance. In DeAndre Lansdowne (23), Kevin Yebo (17), Jeff Garrett (14), Ousman Krubally (12) and Kaza Kajami-Keane (10), five Chemnitz players scored in double figures.
The Spaniards dominated proceedings in the opening spell. The Basques pulled away from 8:6 (4th minute) to 23:9 by the eighth minute and defended their lead until the break. The German club turned the game around with a 9:1 run to make it 50:47 in the 23rd minute. The Niners led by double digits for the first time (67:58 in the 29th minute) and even extended that lead thanks to a good shooting percentage and sturdy defending.
