U-BT Cluj-Napoca is the Romanian champion for the 5th consecutive season! Remarkable victory in “decisive” for black and white

• Zavier Simpson, author of 26 points, was appointed the final player.

• Tudor Şomăcescu was called the most basketball perspective of the final.

In a sensational atmosphere created by the supporters of the two rivals, match 5 of the final had a balanced first. The hosts were led by Donatas Tarolis and Brandon Brown, the former players of Cluj, while the guests relied a lot on the remote throws, Sasu Salin and Patrick Richard being specialists in this chapter.

Extremely balanced first half in Oradea Arena

CSM Oradea had a more balanced game than U-BT, which scored the first two-point basket only in the 9th minute of the match, through Zavier Simpson. Finally, at the end of the inaugural act, the score was 19-16 for red-blue.

In the beginning of the quarter quarter, despite a very aggressive defensive of Cristian Achim's students, the opponents managed to take over. The good period of the “students” did not last too long.

Brown and Tarolis continued to lead the offensive of CSM Oradea and Mihai Silvășan was forced to use their first time-out. The Bihorians controlled the game, but Richard restored the difference in possession, 39-37, thanks to a distance basket marked in the last second in front of Tarolis.

CSM Oradea, solid game in the second half but U-BT has not given up

After returning from the locker rooms, U-BT's players communicated more and got some free, who brought them back to the lead. However, they did not succeed in making the best time, and the hosts passed in front.

Followed a period with little registered points with many interruptions and many faults awarded. Oradea again dominated the fight for recovery, while Simpson, the main offensive weapon of Cluj had a modest evolution. However, before the decisive act, the difference was also a possession in favor of the Bihor: 51-49.

The situation changed in the first 90 seconds of quarter 4, in which CSM Oradea achieved a partial of 7-3, which forced Silvășan to ask for a rest time. Seeley immediately halved the difference, calmly turning three free throws, but his team did not take advantage of it.

Sayeed Pridgett made a show and the score became 63-55 for the hosts, a moment that led to a slight mental relaxation. The guests did not give up the fight and made a 5-0 round that led to a time-out of Achim.

Final incredible in match 5 of the national league final

The game balanced and, at the entrance of the last minute, the score was 65-64 for CSM Oradea. There followed an action where, initially, the referees dictated for Oradea and then, after the video resumption, they changed the decision and the ball returned to Cluj.

U-BT's captain took over the action on his own and, after an excellent lock of Hankins, marked the basket through which the Clujians went to lead, 65-66, with 47.8 seconds left.

After a rest time requested by Achim, the other Richard, who plays for the Honds, also assumed an individual action and was noted: 67-66. However, it was not the end. Simpson and U-BT came to the lead, 67-68, with 24.3 seconds of the regular time.

As expected, the last action was assumed by Kris Richard. He threw in the last second, and the ball thrown by him did not reach his target. U-BT Cluj-Napoca imposed with 68-67 and won the 5th consecutive title of champion of Romania.

The winners of the winner were Zavier Simpson (26 points), DJ Seeley (10 points) and Patrick Richard (8 points).

On the other side, Donatas Tarolis (18 points), Sayeed Pridgett (12 points), Brandon Brown (11 points) and Kris Richard (11 points) were noted.

FINAL. 67-68. U-BT Cluj-Napoca remains the champion of Romania in male basketball

CSM Oradea-U-BT Cluj-Napoca:

Sifer 4:
67-68
67-66
65-66
65-64
65-62
63-62
63-60
63-58
63-55
61-55
58-55
58-54
58-53
58-52
56-52
54-52
54-49

Quarter 3:
51-49
51-46
50-46
48-46
46-46
45-46
45-44
44-44
44-42
42-42
39-42
39-41
39-40
39-39
39-38

Quarter 2:
39-37
39-34
37-34
37-33
37-32
34-32
34-29
32-29
32-27
30-27
30-25
28-25
26-25
25-25
24-25
24-23
23-23
21-23
21-20
21-18
19-18

Quarter 1:
19-16
19-14
16-14
16-12
14-12
12-12
12-9
9-9
6-9
6-6
4-6
4-3
2-3
2-0

Start of the match. 40 minutes of play and then we will find out the champion of Romania, 2024-2025 edition.

Sensational atmosphere in Oradea Arena! The cozy halls of the west of the country have begun to be filled, and the galleries of the two rivals are dueling in chains.

Oradea Arena, with less than 10 minutes until the start of match 5

Perfect balance between Oradea and Cluj after the first 4 matches

After 6-0 in “quarters” and semifinals, taking advantage of a longer rest period, U-BT Cluj-Napoca was the first team to hit the LNBM final. Mihai Silvășan's band returned impressive in match 1, played away, and imposed with 89-82.

In the next match, CSM Oradea had a pride and dominated his opponent, winning 80-68. However, the black and white were still seen as favorites, taking into account that the series was moving to Barena.

As often happens in sports, reality beat the “paper calculations” And Cristian Achim's students, supported by a large gallery, defeated 74-68, and took over the general leadership, 2-1, approaching the 4th title in the club's history.

Match 4 was probably the most beautiful of the series, the balance and tension being kept during the 40 minutes. In front of the largest audience in the National League this season, 9913 spectators, U-BT controlled the end of the game, prevailed with 92-83 and sent the final in decisive.

Arbitration, one of the recurring themes of the national league final

One of the recurring themes of the final was that of the arbitration challenged by both camps. After the first match, Cristian Achim, CSM Oradea's coach, reproached the arbitration manner, and Mihai Silvășan, U-BT Cluj-Napoca's technician, and Branko Cuic, the club's sports director, said that they said that stating that opponents' statements are an attempt to put pressure on arbitration.

Then, after the fourth match, Silvășan accused the aggressiveness of the Bihor and stated that he wants a fair arbitration to charge the hard actions of the opponents. When he arrived in front of the microphones, Achim's speech was largely focused on arbitration and on the big free difference received by the two camps (33-12 in favor of U-BT).

The match 5, which is sold-out, will be arbitrated by a brigade made up of Marius Ciulin, Alin Faur and Serban Rașoga, and Cătălin Burlacu will be an observer from the Romanian Basketball Federation.

CSM Oradea has not announced any effective problem, while at U-BT Cluj-Napoca the situation is uncertain. Zavier Simpson, the leader of the black and white in the first three matches, absent in the last confrontation, due to a knee injury.

Then, at the end of the first half, Adam Mokoka accused a medical problem after a 3-marked basket and was helped to get off the field of the medical staff of the “students”. It remains to be seen whether one of the two will be able to evolve in Oradea Arena, but the higher chances have the American defender.

Mihai Silvășan: “A match is waiting for us, which I hope to honor the Romanian basketball”

“I was surprised by the speed with which the tickets were sold, which means that this final has a huge interest, both among the supporters of Oradea and the Cluj. I think if I had a room with a double capacity in Oradea, it was filled. It is a very good thing and it is an additional reason for us, as hosts, to try on the sports line to do everything that depends on us to make these wonderful fans happy, who through the attachment and the ticket request shows that I keep this team a lot.. We would not want to disappoint them ”, said Serban Sere, director of CSM Oradea, quoted by Bihorean.

A match 5 awaits us, which I hope to honor the Romanian basketball. I hope it is a good match! The load and pressure of such a match are very high on both sides. Oradea enjoys the advantage of our own land, but we have experience and we are prepared for such a confrontation. It is logical that our goal is to win. No one guarantees this, there are two good, competitive teams, which have offered quality matches. I wish us to win, but it's a close match and can happen absolutely anything

– Mihai Silvășanaccording to the official website of U-BT Cluj-Napoca