ATHENS (Greece) - Guess what happened in 1970, when AEK BC first hosted Asisa Joventut? The game was postponed due to a heavy thunderstorm in Athens. On Wednesday, it was supposed to happen the same.
Instead, the tip-off was confirmed at the original time, while the weather forecast predicted a rainstorm taking place on the stands of SUNEL Arena, where 5,652 of Greek fans pushed the Queen to victory in Game 1.
With an eventful 87-84 comeback victory in the Greek capital, AEK went up 1-0 in the Quarter-Finals of the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL. We expected madness, and that's what we got.
Turning Point
Joventut approached one of the toughest games of Season X with an amazing attitude, creating separation and heading to the end of the first half by as much as 13 points (47-34), despite not having their first two options at "five" position, Ante Tomic and Simon Birgander.
However, AEK came back sooner than expected, pushed by RaiQuan Gray, Frank Bartley, and the captain, Dimitris Flionis, who powered from deep to cut the deficit to five points at 6:38 in the third.
The Queen entered the fourth up 64-61, but Dani Miret's team had all the solutions to the hosts' ruthless offensive power. Everything was balanced up until the final minutes, when James Nunnally stepped up.
Player of the Game
The 35-year-old veteran didn't play a single minute in the third quarter, staying on the bench once coming out of the locker rooms. But Dragan Sakota knew exactly that he had a superstar to unleash in the fourth quarter.
Putting up 13 of his final 19 points in seven minutes of action in the final stanza, he also had the play of the game with 1:47 to go, bringing AEK back up front with a clutch dagger from beyond the arc.
Stats don't lie
4:16. This is the amount of minutes when AEK had the lead against Joventut. It was enough to go up 1-0.
And while that speaks volumes of the cruelty of this competition, where you can't take anything for granted, it also proves how the Greek powerhouse could find ways to win even when they're not perfect.
In Game 1, Joventut finished on the losing side despite out-assisting the opponents 22-10.
Bottom line
While James Nunnally took the spotlight with the shot of the night in Greece, both Frank Bartley (23 points over 6-of-6 FT) and RaiQuan Gray (14 points and 10 rebounds) had yet another hell of a night.
We were sure we would have seen crazy scenes on the stands of SUNEL Arena in Athens, as the black-and-yellow army's goal is to push the Queen back to the BCL Final Four.
What we didn't expect was Joventut's fearless effort despite not having two crucial assets like Birgander and Tomic. Cameron Hunt (16 points and 6 assists) and Ricky Rubio (13 points and 6 assists) tried their best.
They will try to come back in the series next week, playing Game 2 in front of their fans on April 7 at 19:30 CET, hoping to continue their road towards the BCL Final Four at home.
They said
"That’s a good team. Big respect to them, they played great. They hit some tough shots. We didn’t come ready to play and they took advantage of that, but at the end of the day, we just fought and that’s a big shout-out to my teammates. Everyone believed, and we just fought to get back in the game." - James Nunnally, AEK BC
"I think we have a lot of stuff to analyse about this game, but I think the series is far from over. We’re gonna have a very good game at our home and we’re gonna come back here. Like I said, this series is far from over." - Yannick Kraag, Asisa Joventut