Niners celebrate home opener: "Atmosphere is crazy"

For Wesley van Beck, the home opener with the Niners Chemnitz in the Basketball Bundesliga was a debut made to measure. "The atmosphere here is crazy. They told me before that Chemnitz has the best fans in the league and I have no doubt that it is," the Saxons' new No. 5 said after Monday night's 109-79 win over the Bamberg Baskets in front of 4592 fans at Messehalle Chemnitz on Dyn. "We just try to work together as a team. With the support from the stands, we did that well."

The 27-year-old converted five of six threes in the win and was the most successful thrower in the match with 26 points. In addition, there were five steals and four rebounds. Nevertheless, the shooting guard emphasized the "teamwork". "We came out and wanted to move the ball right away and be aggressive on offense," the U.S. native said. "There were some things we wanted to correct compared to the first game against Ulm. That's why we worked hard on defense and benefited from it through our switching game."

In the BBL opener at champions Ulm, the Saxons had lost narrowly 85-90 last Wednesday despite a strong final phase. Against the Baskets, however, the game was initially balanced, from the second quarter, the Niners then increased and expanded their lead as the game progressed. On Sunday (3:30 p.m./dyn), the next task awaits at the Basketball Löwen Braunschweig.