Allianz Swans Gmunden are still dreaming of playing in the EuroCup Regular Season after a gutsy second-half performance against Serbian giants Red Star Belgrade.

The Austrians, playing at home, trailed Svetislav Pesic's team by 11 points early in the second half of their Qualifying Round 2 opening leg and were still behind by seven in the fourth quarter but got hot from long range and finished the game with the tie evenly poised at 82-82.

Swans coach Bob Gonnen said: "If you play such a terrific team with such a famous coach, you don't have to motivate your players.

"Everybody put his heart on the floor today. We maybe played our best game of the season so far."

Deteri Mayes and Anthony Fisher each had 21 points for the Austrian outfit, while Florian Schöninger scored 12 on four-of-seven shooting from behind the arc.

Red Star boss Pesic, who led the former Yugoslavia to the gold medal at the 2002 FIBA World Championship, was frustrated by his team's failure to press home their advantage.

"The fans saw an interesting game, intensive and attractive," he said.

"In the first half, we had everything under control. In the second half, we did not play that well. When their Austrian players started to hit the threes, they saw that there is something possible. We showed our nerves and lost control then. If you lead almost the whole game, you cannot be satisfied with the outcome"

Red Star were led by their 2.03m forward, Tadija Dragicevic, who scored 17 points.