AEK, Monaco Bag Wins in Basketball Champions League Q-Finals

 The first leg of the Basketball Champions League Quarterfinals is now complete. AEK Athens and AS Monaco bagged wins against their respective opponents. Neither team was able to come away with double-digit margins, but wins are wins and now the pressure is on the other teams to post a higher aggregate score in the end. The other two games were recapped here.

AEK Athens vs. Strasbourg IG, 78-69

The Greek club brought with them some solid defense in this game and was able to stifle Strasbourg at every turn. The got off to an early 14-2 lead but Strasbourg was also able to force some key turnovers of their own and was able to secure some easy baskets.

After the halftime break, it would be Strasbourg to open with a 14-7 run of their own. From there, the lead would change hands several times, with AEK sealing the 9-point victory with a 10-0 run late in the game.

Kevin Punter led the way for AEK with 15 points. While Manny Harris and Dusan Sakota chipped in 12 points apiece.

The second leg of this series will be played on April 4th.

Banvit BK vs. AS Monaco, 77-85

This was an expected win. 2017-18 has been very kind to AS Monaco and the club has been blessed with success in international and domestic competition. Their 13-1 finish to the league’s regular season laid the groundwork for their impressive run in the playoffs.

Monaco was consistent on both ends of the floor and gave Banvit headaches at every turn. The favorites came out and drew a line in the sand with this statement win. Monaco’s Elmedin Kikanovic dropped a game-high 20 points.

The second leg of this series will be played on April 3rd.