Aris BSA 2003 held off Asvel Basket to score its first win of Last 16 Group J, 77-60, in Thessaloniki, Greece. Ronald Davis scored most of his game-high 19 points early as Aris went ahead by 8 in the first quarter and made it double figures in the second. Asvel came back to take the lead before the half ended with the hosts on top 35-34. Aris pulled away again in the third, Asvel cut it to 4 in the fourth, but the hosts had the final run and pulled away down the stretch to secure the win and keep Asvel winless. Dan Mavraides added 18 points and Demitris Verginis 11 for the winning team. Kim Tillie paced Asvel with 17 points and Phil Goss and Dijon Thompson netted 10 each.

Davis scored the game’s first two baskets before Asvel answered with Tillie capping a 0-7 run that put the visitors on top. But soon Aris found its groove, a Davis layup put the hosts ahead 13-11 and after Sergio Kerusch got involved, the lead grew to 22-14 by the end of the first quarter. Michalis Tsairelis made it a double-digit cushion to start the second quarter. Thompson helped bring Asvel back with a slam and 2 free throws. A Goss triple, a Thompson steal leading to a Tillie layup and another Goss basket made for a 0-11 charge that put Asvel in the driver’s seat at 31-32. Giorgos Bogris’s basket in the final minute preserved a minimal 35-34 Aris edge at halftime.

Aris came out stronger for the second half and back-to-back threes by Eleftherios Bochoridis and Verginis pushed the hosts up to 45-36. Verginis cracked the double-digit margin with another triple midway through the quarter, 50-40. Aris got as close as 6 twice before Verginis ended the third quarter at 56-48. A Paul Lacombe slam early in the fourth quarter narrowed the gap to 56-52. Davis answered with a three and after Mavraides also hit from downtown, a Sam Muldrow slam and Mavraides free throw helped put the game away at 70-56.