Captain Jonas Richter has described the insignificant defeat of the Niners Chemnitz basketball team in the semi-final of the Europe Cup competition against Bilbao Baskets as a small damper on their euphoria. "A lot of things became apparent in the game that we can learn from," said Richter. After winning the first leg 98:73 on Wednesday evening, the club from Saxony lost 73:82 in its own arena, but still managed to reach the final.
In the two finals, Chemnitz will face Bahcesehir Koleji from Istanbul on April 17 in its own arena and on April 24 on the road. The Niners could become the third German club after Mitteldeutscher BC (2004) and Frankfurt Skyliners (2016) to win the Europe Cup, the fourth most important European title.
"It's a bit surreal that we're now in a final like this. But we have to keep our focus and win the next two games as well," Richter told MDR. If they could get back to their own game and run the ball with a lot of energy, they could put something forward in the final, said Richter.
Steffen Herhold, the Niners' managing director, didn't really know how to categorize the game. "Even though we're in the final: Losing doesn't feel good. But things will turn around quickly. The development feels blatant," said Herhold, who is looking forward to the coming days and weeks: "It should become our DNA to play internationally and also reach finals."
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