By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
William Howard scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Nanterre 92 defeated AEK Athens 82 – 70 at home in Game 2 of the Basketball Champions League best-of-three quarterfinals to tie the series.
Game 3 will take place in Athens where both the last Final Four participant and the tournament host city will be decided.
Benjamin Sense contributed 16 points and six assists while Desi Rodriguez had 12 points for Nanterre that claimed victory mainly on the back of a powerful 27 – 9 second period.
Hunter Hale led AEK with 19 points but went 5 out of 13 from the field. Prentis Hubb notched 12 points plus six assists and Grant Golden had 10 points plus seven rebounds.
AEK had a red-hot start in the game to lead 15 – 24 after 10 minutes. Yet Nanterre responded in a strong fashion to close halftime up 42 – 33.
While AEK erased some of that deficit, Nanterre managed to retain an advantage, entering the last seven minutes of the game up 70 – 59. Once again the visiting side tried to approach closer but their opponents scored 8 unanswered points to assume a 78 – 64 lead with two minutes remaining. There was no turning back from that margin.