By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Antwerp successfully defended its advantage from Game 1 in the series against UCAM Murcia to qualify to the Basketball Champions League quarterfinals.
Murcia won Game 2 78 – 77 but Antwerp had traveled to Spain with an 8-point lead in its bags and thus won the series with an aggregate score of 152 – 145. Antwerp will face Nizhny Novgorod for a spot in the Final Four.
The qualification was ultimately decided in the final minutes. Murcia had a lead of nine, 78 – 69 with 3:54 remaining but that was the last they scored in the game. Antwerp fought back and erased that deficit to secure the ticket to the next round.
Tyler Kalinski scored 16 points, Ismael Bako 15 and Paris Lee 14 for Antwerp. From Murcia, Askia Booker notched a double-double of 14 points and 11 assists while Ovie Soko delivered one of his own with 12 points and 10 rebounds.