U-BT Cluj-Napoca, duel with Slask Wroclaw on the penultimate day of the year » The round match was dramatic

The second half of December was excellent for U-BT Cluj-Napoca, a team that played only at home and collected 4 consecutive victories. Mihai Silvășan's team will try to extend this positive streak and get revenge against Slask Wroclaw, who made a spectacular comeback in the tour and won 94-93 against black and white.

With small batch problems, U-BT Cluj-Napoca hopes to get its 7th victory in the EuroCup

U-BT has a record of 6-5 in group A of the EuroCup and needs a success to stay in the Top 4. In the previous round of the competition, the Cluj gave an offensive recital and they beat Neptunas Klaipeda 118-97.

In that game, the Transylvanian coach had the entire team at his disposal. Instead, against Slask Wroclaw, U-BT will have at least one absentee. It's about Jeffery Taylor, who suffered a fractured nasal pyramid in the duel with Krka in the Adriatic League.

Trey Woodbury is also uncertain. A sprain prevented him from playing against SC Derby, then he returned to training, but the start of the week found him sidelined again, this time with a back problem. However, Silvășan hopes that the American defender will play against Slask on Tuesday.

“The EuroCup game against Poland is coming up and we really want to get revenge and win this game. I think we should have beaten them at home, regardless of the conditions in which we played, and now have an extra win. We focused a lot on this game and I think we are ready”, said the 40-year-old coach, who appealed to the supporters to come to the gym and support them in this last match of the year.

Daron Russell: 'We've got to make sure we're focused for 40 minutes'

In the round match, Daron Russell, one of U-BT's best players, collected 15 assists, but it wasn't enough. Asked if fans should expect a similar performance from him, the 'students' playmaker assured that he will take advantage of the opposing defense and execute the game plan of the technical staff.

“We know they're a tough team. They've got size, especially in the backfield. We have to be ready to fight, defend our own ground and execute the game plan. Last time they tried different defenses that slowed us down. I had a big advantage, but I gave it up. We have to make sure we're focused for 40 minutes this time,” said “Fatts,” who is averaging 21.4 points, 6.4 assists and 3.5 rebounds in the EuroCup.

Another dangerous basketball player of U-BT is Mitchell Creek, who scored 40 points against Neptunas. He is one of the most in-form players in the EuroCup and is averaging 19.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists.

Dusan Miletic is also expected to have a solid performance against Slask Wroclaw, his former team. The Serbian center is averaging 12.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks.

On the other side, Slask Wroclaw's leaders are Kadre Gray (15.6 points, 4.0 assists, 2.5 rebounds), Noah Kirkwood (13.2 points, 4.6 assists, 4.2 rebounds), Stefan Dordevic (11.8 points, 6.8 rebounds) and Jakub Niziol (9.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists).

The team prepared by Ainars Bagatskis, the former coach of CSO Voluntari, has 4 wins and 7 losses and is in 9th place in group A with a 0-5 away record.

Group A standings

EuroCup group A standings, before stage number 12/Photo: euroleaguebasketball.net