U-BT Cluj-Napoca, dramatically defeated by Igokea, after a spectacular comeback in the last minutes of regular time
Article by David Istrate – Published Saturday, January 10, 2026, 10:01 p.m. / Updated Saturday, January 10, 2026 10:02 p.m.
U-BT Cluj-Napoca was defeated by Igokea, score 114-108, in a match of the 14th stage of the Adriatic League, played in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The hosts made a spectacular comeback in the last quarter, sent the game into extra time and outscored the guests there.
After the painful defeat on Wednesday, January 7, at Umana Reyer VeneciaU-BT Cluj-Napoca continued its journey and on Saturday, January 10, it also played away, against Igokea, a team it had beaten in the tour with 106-84.
U-BT Cluj-Napoca led for a good part of the match, but was tied in the last seconds
This time, the match was not easy at all for the black and whites. The Bosnians started strongly and won their opening act 29-22. Mihai Silvășan's students returned in the second sequence and entered the locker room with an advantage of 4 points: 51-47.
After the break, led by an in-form Mitch Creek, the 'students' continued to control the game and looked to be heading for victory. But the hosts did not give up the fight and, in the 4th quarter, they started to force a comeback.
The Cluj players made some key mistakes, which brought Igokea back into the match. At +5, U-BT allowed a foul basket by Ahmaad Rorie and then at +3, with just seconds left, the guests did not foul, and Dragan Milosavljevic charged them with a 3-point basket.
Defeat in extra time for the champion of Romania, who reaches a record of 9-4
The score became 100-100 and the game went into overtime. In the extra half, Nenad Stefanovic's players were more inspired, while the Transylvanians couldn't find the way to the basket. Igokea won 114-108 and avenged the defeat in the tour.
The leaders of the winner were Nathaniel Amir Pierre-Louis (29 points), Ahmaad Rorie (19 points) and Strahinja Gavrilovic (18 points).
On the other side, Mitch Creek (35 points), Daron Russell (22 points, 9 assists) and Dusan Miletic (14 points, 12 rebounds) stood out.
With this result, U-BT Cluj-Napoca reached a record of 9 wins and 4 losses in group A of the ABA League. In contrast, Igokea has 7 wins and 4 losses.
Mihai Silvășan: “This is basketball, you make wrong decisions and you are punished for them”
A painful defeat for us, congratulations to Igokea, but I think we had a lot of chances to win. Unfortunately, we mishandled some situations down the stretch where we should have fouled when we had a 3-point lead and we shouldn't have forced a layup in the very first second of the layup.
That's basketball, you make bad decisions and you get punished for them. That's it, a tough defeat for our team but we are strong, stay united and move on to the next game
– Mihai Silvasanaccording to the official website of the Black and Whites
Mitch Creek: “We have to take something positive from this double trip”
Tough game tonight. We put ourselves in a very good position to win away from home against a very good team. Unfortunately, in the end we were not able to make the necessary decisions to win, and overtime was not on our side.
However, we must take something positive from this double displacement. One important thing is that we are healthy. It's one of the first away games this season where the whole squad has been available, so we take that as a positive and move on, trying to get betteri.
We return home for two games, which will be very interesting. I know that our fans will give us a lot of energy and a lot of support, and that will help us in the next games. Make sure you come to the gym, support us and we'll do our best to represent the 'U' as best we can
– Mitch CreekU-BT's leader in defeat to Igokea
Group A standings
Group A standings of the Adriatic League/Photo: aba-liga.com capture
