AARHUS (Basketball Champions League) – A strong second half display lifted Bakken Bears to an 83-70 triumph over BC Tartu at home on Thursday and, in conjunction with their 75-67 win in the first leg of the Qualification Round 2 tie, handed the Danish side one of the two remaining spots in Regular Season Group A.

Bakken led for most of the opening half but Tartu used a 9-0 run late in the second period to jump ahead 36-33 although the hosts went to the locker rooms holding a 37-36 lead on sublime buzzer-beating dunk by Devaughn Akoon-Purcell.

The Danish returned with renewed determination after the break and pulled away 58-48 midway through the third period. Tartu reacted momentarily to halt the hosts’ progress but Bakken made the most of their ability to get buckets in the paint, where they scored 56 of their 83 points, and extended the gap to 81-66 with three minutes left to play to put the game beyond the reach of the Estonian team.

Michel Diouf once again made the difference close to the rim and collected a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead Bakken while Akoon-Purcell was not far behind as he finished with 20 points and five boards. For Tartu, who will now compete in the FIBA Europe Cup, Janari Jöesaar had a joint game-high 21 points.