THESSALONIKI (Basketball Champions League) - Walter Hodge's three point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the rim as Aris and ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne will return to France tied up at 67-a-piece after Leg 1 of their Round of 16 match up on Wednesday evening in Greece.

Aris led by double digits in the third period, but neither team could gain separation in the contest, which featured no less than 10 ties throughout the forty minutes.

Michalis Tsairelis and Vassilis Kavvadas led Aris with 14 points each, as Michael Jenkins joined them in double figures with 11.

Spyros Mourtos, Aris' captain, commented after game: 

"We had a problem in the beginning of the game with offensive rebounds that they got. We balanced the game, managed to get defensive rebounds and second half we made a good lead.

"At that point we weren't stable on defence and didn't make good options on offence and this is why the game ended tied.

"Now we have to go Lyon and win the game if we want to proceed."

For ASVEL, Adrian Uter finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists, whilst Demarcus Nelson and Nikola Dragovic adding 10 points each.

"We played a really good defensive game, we were physical," ASVEL's Amine Noua said.

"We turned the ball over a little too much, but we did a really hood job of playing physical and aggressive to stay in the game, giving us a good chance to make the difference at home."

With both teams struggling from outside the arc, it wasn't until the third period, when ASVEL went four and a half minutes without a field goal to open the half, that saw a side get a stranglehold on the game.

Aris led by as many as 10, but a 13-6 run, punctuated by a Nelson basket with a little over six minutes to play saw ASVEL get their first lead of the second half at 62-60.

And with ASVEL holding a four point lead with under 4 minutes remaining, Aris responded. Tsairelis rattled off a 5-0 run by himself, and just like that Aris led by one with 1:02 left in the game.

Hodge had the last point of the contest, splitting a pair of free throws to tie it up at 67 with 45 seconds left and neither team would be able to convert again, setting up what should be a thriller in Leg 2.