MONACO (Basketball Champions League) - AS Monaco claimed a 73-62 triumph over Dinamo Sassari in the opening leg of their Basketball Champions League Quarter-Final but may rue allowing the visitors to cut a huge deficit in half over the final 5:35 of the contest.

Trailing 62-40 after a pair of Dee Bost free-throws for Monaco and also 66-44 following a basket by Brandon Davies, the Sardinian team battled back. They ended up outscoring the hosts 22-13 to lose by just 11 points.

Rok Stipcevic hit three 3-pointers and scored 9 of his team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter to lead the comeback. David Lighty also twice connected from deep in the last frame for the visitors.

Yakuba Ouattara had 17 points to lead Monaco, who will attempt to progress with a solid performance next week in Italy.

"The first feeling is a little bit of frustration because we had a 20-point lead but to win by 11 is a great job against a team like this," Ouattara said.

"For sure the last 10 minutes, we went down. But when we look at the way the game goes, we did a good job. We didn't have a lot of rotation and were a little bit tired at the end. We did a good job."

Monaco did not have the services of Jamal Shuler and star guard Zach Wright was in foul trouble all night and played less than 10 minutes before picking up his fifth. Bost stepped up, logging almost 32 minutes and finishing with 13 points and 8 assists.

Remembering that Sassari won the home leg of their Play-Off Qualifier against CEZ Nymburk by 22 points and also thumped Le Mans, 79-63, in the opening game of the Round of 16, all bets are off when it comes to Monaco trying to get a favorable result in Sardinia.

"I think it will be a harder game," Ouattara said. "Sassari, their gym can be crazy. They have good fans and we'll have to be focused and aggressive there." 

Sassari coach Federico Pasquini highlighted the 24 turnovers that his team committed in the game as a cause for concern but also emphasized that by coming back in the fourth quarter, his team has a very real chance of winning the tie.

"What is important is that we are talking about the first half of an 80-minute game and I like very much that my team did not give up," Pasquini said.