Deane Williams’s clutch free throws lifted the British side in a dramatic finish
London Lions stun Chemnitz in final seconds for first road win
Отчеты о матчах
3 Минутное чтение
Regular Season
Round 4 of 18
Regular Season
group b
NINERS ChemnitzNIN
6768
London LionsLDN
group b
Overview
l
l
w
l
w
w
l
l
A wild finish in Chemnitz saw the London Lions escape with a dramatic 67-68 win on the road, sealed by two clutch free throws from Deane Williams with just four seconds left.
Nike Sibande’s layup with 36 seconds remaining had given NINERS Chemnitz a 67–64 lead, seemingly wrapping up a comeback win after trailing 38–50 midway through the third quarter. The German side had stormed back into contention thanks to a gritty fourth-quarter push.
Kevin Yebo’s presence inside, a three-pointer from Yordan Minchev and another from Ty Brewer powered a 12–2 run that swung the game in Chemnitz’s favor in the closing minutes. Capitalizing on London’s late-game mistakes – including two missed free throws and a blown dunk – the hosts took a 65–62 lead entering the final stretch.
Momentum was fully on Chemnitz’s side, but the Lions weren’t done yet.
Joel Scott broke the drought from the line, and Kameron McGusty nailed a tough turnaround jumper to cut the deficit to one, 67–66, with 28 seconds to go.
Then came the game’s turning point.
Corey Davis drove hard to the rim and got the shot off, but collided with Deane Williams on the landing, which resulted in him being whistled for an offensive foul. Since the call came after the shot, London was awarded free throws. Williams, who had been scoreless and hadn’t been to the line all game, calmly sank both shots with four seconds left to put the Lions ahead.
It marked London’s first road win of the 2025–26 BKT EuroCup season.
“Yeah, it was a thrilling win that went down to the wire,” said London head coach Tautvydas Sabonis. “Both teams competed very hard today. The last play went our way – we challenged, the ball was out, we got the offensive foul, and, you know, two free throws, and the game went our way.”
Fittingly, London’s win was clinched at the free-throw line, a place where the Lions have struggled. Entering Round 4, they were last in the EuroCup in free-throw percentage, hitting just 57.7% (30 of 52). Against Chemnitz, London improved to 65% (13 of 20). Not great, but enough.
Coach Sabonis's side also made strides on the defensive end. After giving up 86 and 99 points in its first two games, London has since held Trento to 71 and Chemnitz to just 67, despite nearly squandering a double-digit lead in the second half.
“I don’t want to become the Santa Claus team,” Sabonis joked. “We gave a lot of gifts, but my guys showed resilience. They fought back. We left them at 67 points at their home, where they’re normally an 87-point team. That shows our character on defense, and that’s how we win. That’s the way to compete – through defense. I’m very happy for my guys.”
