By Natasha Pavlopoulou
ATHENS, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Dream came true for AEK Athens which edged Spain's Murcia 77-75 here on Friday in the Basketball Champions League semifinal.
AEK Athens will take on Monaco on Sunday here for the final victory.
With its fans as an ally, AEK eyes its third European trophy after the European Cup in 1968 and the Saporta Cup on 2000.
At the Olympic Athletic Centre of Athens (OAKA), AEK had a tough night with the Spanish team that did not turn out to be an easy opponent.
Manny Harris with 20 points and Kevin Punter with 16 points (4/8 in three-points) was there to keep AEK afloat when Murcia was becoming dangerous.
Dusan Sakota with 15 points was the leader the Greek team needed in the difficult moments, especially in the first half, while the contribution of Dimitris Mavroidis and Vassilis Xanthopoulos to their defensive duties was valuable.
Murcia on the other hand, threatened to win with Clevin Hannah (17 points) and Vitor Benite (19 points), as first scorers of the team but the determination of AEK players and the encouragementfrom its 18,000 fans who did not stop for a moment to motivate the team, gave the golden victory to the Greeks.
"It's a great success for AEK and we will need all the strength and the courage for the final game on Sunday," told the coach of the team, Dragan Sakota.
Three hours earlier, Monaco eased past Germany's Ludwigsburg 87-65 and won the ticket for the Sunday match at OAKA.
