Saarlouis Royals had a narrow escape against KK Hemofarm Stada on Wednesday night and advanced to the EuroCup Women Quarter-Finals.

Holding a commanding 21-point after the first leg, René Spandauw's club travelled south to Serbia and lost 84-69, but that was good enough to progress in the competition with a 155-149 triumph on aggregate.

With 3:41 to go in the third quarter, Hemofarm looked to be on the verge of an incredible comeback with a 61-38 lead in the second leg.

That gave them a two-point advantage in the two games.

And with just under two minutes to go in the third quarter, the Serbian team were on top 64-42.

The Royals then ruined the celebrations for the home team.

Romy Bär made two free-throws and both Tyresa Smith and Petra Manakova followed with lay-ups.

After Marina Mandic's two shots from the charity stripe interrupted the Saarlouis run, Royals point guard Yvonne van Daalen buried a three-pointer at the end of the quarter to cut the Hemofarm lead to 66-51.

The Serbian club managed to go back in front by 19 points early in the fourth quarter but never took the aggregate lead again.

The visitors lost the game, but they got enough from Manakova (20 points), Candyce Michelle Bingham (12 points) and Smith (10pts, 11 rebounds) to minimize the damage.

For the hosts, Dara Kovacevic finished with 19 points and 10 boards.

Three other Hemofarm players hit double figures in scoring.