The 26th matchday in the German Basketball League was opened by second-placed Chemnitz, who celebrated their 21st win of the season at the MBC. The evening was dominated by the relegation battle: In Heidelberg, the penultimate team celebrated an important win against bottom-placed Crailsheim
The Niners Chemnitz have returned to winning ways in the BBL. The team of Head Coach Rodrigo Pastore defeated the Syntainics MBC 111:95 (50:45) on the road a week after losing to runners-up Alba Berlin and so remains second in the table and on course for the play-offs. The Niners, with 21 wins and five defeats, are thus also keeping pace with leaders Bayern (20-4). Munich visits Bamberg on Sunday.
Jeff Garrett was the best scorer for the Saxons on Saturday with 23 points as they celebrated a successful dress rehearsal for the semi-final second leg of the Europe Cup. In the third of the four European competitions, Chemnitz battles Bilbao Basket on Wednesday (7 p.m.) for a ticket to the final. The German club won the first leg in the Basque Country 98:73 during the week.
Meanwhile, Champions League winners Telekom Baskets Bonn stopped Rasta Vechta’s winning run with an 80:77 (41:38) victory. Vechta had recently won three games in a row, including against cup winners Bayern Munich and champions ratiopharm Ulm. The newly promoted team is fifth in the table, while Bonn is only in eighth place
The Würzburg Baskets were delighted with a 96:81 (51:42) win against the Tigers Tübingen and remain in fourth place. MLP Academics Heidelberg also won in front of its own fans: In the basement duel with Hakro Merlins Crailsheim, it celebrated a 90:86 (55:44) victory and moved out of the relegation zone into 16th place – ahead of Tübingen (6-20), as Heidelberg (also 6-20) had won the first of two head-to-head duels. They will meet for the second time on the final matchday. Both Justin Jaworski (18 points, 9 assists) and Elijah Childs (19, 8 rebounds) played a major part in the success against bottom-placed Crailsheim, which still has five wins and 21 defeats