SASSARI (Basketball Champions League) - No team has really been able to stop AS Monaco this season. That's true in both the Basketball Champions League, the French LNB and the Disneyland Paris Leaders Cup.

The strong finish by Dinamo Sassari in last week's first leg of the Basketball Champions League Quarter-Final has raised the specter that the Principality club may fall short of the Final Four on Wednesday, although most coaches would settle for an 11-point lead on aggregate.

"If you'd asked me before the game if we could win by 11 points, I'd grab this result like crazy," AS Monaco coach Zvezdan Mitrovic said. "But after going up plus-20 and going down in the last minutes...

"But I can only congratulate my players because they played really tough, especially defensively."

"I'm pretty sure it's going to be a totally different game and we have a lot of things to show." - Dinamo Sassari's Rok Stipcevic

The margin of victory was especially good when considering that Jamal Shuler, one of Monaco's most important players, was unavailable due to a calf injury that he'd picked up in a French domestic game. Shuler will also be out of the game at Sassari.

"We won by 11 points and we sat in the locker room like we lost," Mitrovic said of his players' reaction to allowing Sassari to cut a 22-point with 7:25 remaining in the contest in half.

"We know how it's tough to play in Sassari, a really good home crowd. Big pressure. I think we can make a good result in Sassari, too."

AS Monaco warmed up for the game with an 80-71 victory at Hyeres-Toulon.

The mood is upbeat at Sassari, who won at Vanoli Cremona at the weekend, 78-77, after a pair of David Lighty free-throws in the final minute.

Former Dinamo Sassari guard Darius Johnson Odom, who now plays for Cremona, had a team-high 13 points but missed a 3-ball at the end.

Rok Stipcevic had 13 points for Sassari, who were led by Trevor Lacey's 24. Stipcevic says Sassari are not in a bad position for the second leg after the late comeback at Monaco.

"We lost by 11 but I'm really believing in our team and our work," he said.

"I'm looking forward to seeing them, looking forward to playing in front of our fans in our gym," Stipcevic said. "I'm pretty sure it's going to be a totally different game and we have a lot of things to show.

"Now is the point we need to make the last step to make the Final Four. I think we deserve it and I think we can do it."