Sasa Obradovic knows the battle is only half over after watching RheinEnergie Koeln turn in a gritty performance in levelling their EuroCup quarter-final series with BC Kyiv.

Nevertheless, Friday's 69-62 win has set up a Game 3 decider for Wednesday back in Ukraine and Obradovic can hardly contain his optimism.

"I am really satisfied with this game," said Obradovic. "We came out with the right mentality and played with a lot of energy.

"We played very good defense and built ourself a better chance with the fastbreaks."

RheinEnergie lost Game 1 87-85 in overtime but remained mentally strong and now are just 40 minutes away from a place in the Final Four.

"We wanted to give back what they took from us in Kiev," said Marcin Gortat, the RheinEnergie center.

"We wanted to show, that we are a very good team and that big names and a lot of money are not everything."

BC Kyiv reached the final of the FIBA Europe League last season and they will like their chances at home.

"They played a very good game and we are looking forward to game three in Kiev," said LaMarr Greer, the BC Kyiv star won won Game 1 with a pair of free throws at the end of the extra period.