EKA AEL Lemesos held off a determined BC Kalev in Estonia on Tuesday to snatch their fourth successive win in the EuroCup and secure their passage into the next phase of the competition.

The Tallinn team, having lost their opening three games, needed to win to keep their hopes of progressing from Group E alive but Lemesos won 71-65.

Howard Frier's jump shot with 2:39 remaining tied the contest at 60-60, but consecutive jumpers from Nikola Bulatovic, the former Yugoslavian international, put the visitors from Cyprus back in front for good.

Kalev did have one last roll of the dice after Frier scored to pull his team to within 68-65 with 15 seconds remaining.

Frier committed his fifth foul to stop the clock with 12 seconds to play and put Frankie King on the line.

King, who had 14 points, seven rebounds and three steals, missed both free throws but Kalev were unable to take advantage as Gert Dorbek's potential game-tying three-pointer with four seconds to play was off target.

Milutin Aleksic paced Lemesos with 21 points in the game while Rait Keerles led Kalev with 19.

Of all the losses in the EuroCup for Kalev, this one will be the hardest to take for coach Aivars Kuusmaa as his men led by as many as 10 points in the first half and they held a 49-46 advantage by the end of the third quarter after a Dorbek three-pointer.

They also hurt their chances at the free throw line, making just 12 of 20 (60%) for the game.

Lemesos won the first encounter against these teams in Cyprus 67-49.