The Niners Chemnitz basketball team have made amends for their botched start to the season in the Champions League. Coach Rodrigo Pastore's charges celebrated an unchallenged 103:75 (57:33) victory against Benfica Lisbon on Wednesday, their first win on the European stage this season. Victor Bailey Jr. (22), William Christmas, Olivier Nkamhoua (15 each), Aher Uguak (12), Eddy Edigin and Nicholas Tischler (10 each) made the biggest contributions. Tyler Stone (28), Diogo Gameiro (12) and Trey Drechsel (10) scored the most points for Lisbon.
The home side laid the foundation for its unchallenged victory with a lightning start in the first quarter. Chemnitz pulled 16:5 ahead in the 6th minute with a 15:5 run to make it 31:10 within two minutes and was then no longer put under pressure thanks to its outstanding shooting percentage in the first two quarters - 19 out of 29 from the floor, including nine successful threes from just 15 attempts. The Portuguese side was inferior to the Bundesliga club in every respect. After 25 minutes, the Saxons had extended their lead to more than 30 points (69:38).
