AEK Athens took the upper hand in the first knockout stage of the Basketball Champions League, after a 75-84 victory over PAOK on the road on Tuesday (05/03).
The visitors led by 24 points in the opening quarter (4-28) and retained their lead until the end, despite the hosts’ effort to make a come-back.
PAOK were down by 19 early in the fourth quarter (46-65), but cut the deficit to nine at the end of the game and remained alive in the battle to reach the quarter-finals.
Vince Hunter led the winners, with 20 points (10/13 shooting) and 12 rebounds, as Dusan Sakota and Howard Sant-Roos added 16 ad 14 points, respectively.
Antonis Koniaris scored 18 points for the losing squad, with Milenko Tepic posting 15 points and Johndre Jefferson 12, respectively.
The second game will be played in Athens on Wednesday (13/03), as PAOK will try to win by 10 points in order to eliminate AEK Athens.
In the other two matches, Nizhny Novgorod dominated Venezia at home (95-72), while the first match between Le Mans and Virtus Bologna ended in a tie (74-74).
