Basketball show in BTarena! U-BT Cluj-Napoca dreamed, but was brought down to earth by Dubai Basketball

For the second time this season, U-BT Cluj-Napoca received the visit of a group from the Euroleague, the most important continental competition. Dubai Basketball, a recent formation in basketball, but with massive investments and an extremely valuable lotcame to BTarena with the intention of continuing his winning streak.

Although it has a team full of stars, Dubai Basketball did not scare U-BT Cluj-Napoca

The seriousness with which the team from the United Arab Emirates treated the match in Romania was visible even before the game, when the names of the players appeared on the two tables in the Multipurpose Hall.

Dwayne Baconformer AS Monaco and Panathinaikos basketball player, Justin Andersonathlete arrived from Barcelona, McKinley Wright IVthe MVP of the ABA League in the previous season, Philip Petruseva player with games in the NBA and the Euroleague, are just some of the most sonorous names in Dubai's squad.

In addition, after an absence of 3 months, the star appeared on the game sheet Dzanan Musawho left Real Madrid to sign in the Gulf. They were also present in Cluj, but without being included in the group of 12 players Mam Jaitehthe former pivot of Monaco, and Bruno Caboclobasketball player signed this week, after not entering the plans of Dimitris Itoudis, coach of Hapoel Tel Aviv.

Despite the quality of their opponents, U-BT played with a lot of courage, and the source of this attitude was revealed in the post-game press conference. “Knowing myself and knowing what mentality I want us to have here, we will not treat any match lightly, we will not just show up. Any game this team plays, as long as I'm in charge of it, we'll treat it to victory only“, said Mihai Silvășan, the black and white coach.

Mihai Silvășan, at time-out, during the duel with Dubai Basketball/Photo: Manases Sandor (aba-liga.com)

U-BT Cluj-Napoca was, for 3 quarters, equal to a Euroleague team

In the first half, it was mostly Mitch Creek and McKinley Wright. The two were the main offensive weapons of their teams, managing to impress the 10,000 spectators who witnessed the ABA League derby.

The hosts attacked effectively, tried to impose their style of play and scored through various methods: penetrations by Daron Russell and Trey Woodbury, “triples” by Mitch Creek and baskets from under the board by Dusan Miletic and Nighael Ceaser.

In defense, however, the Cluj could not cope with the guests and, at halftime, they were leading 56-52. After returning from the locker room, Dwayne Bacon felt great and hit 4 long range baskets in the 3rd quarter.

Creek continued their excellent development and finally Silvășan found the right line-up to keep up with Dubai. In the penultimate sequence, each team scored 22 points, so the decisive act started from -4: 74-78.

He's back and the buckets followed immediately. 🏀🔥

Džanan Musa returns in style.#ABALiga @dubaibasket pic.twitter.com/Sdsequw5lb

— AdmiralBet ABA League (@ABA_League) January 17, 2026

Mfiondu Kabengele and Dwayne Bacon, the leaders of Dubai Basketball in the victory in Cluj

Mfiondu Kabengele, the visitors' massive pivot, played superbly, dominated the battle with his opponents in the post and signaled the departure of the Dubai team. Jurica Golemac's players managed some key offensive rebounds and they took advantage of Cluj's lack of freshness in attack.

Dzanan Musa also made some very good moves, and Wright started to put pressure on the Cluj defenders again. The difference on the table grew more and more and finally Dubai Basketball prevailed 110-93, reaching a record of 13-0 in Group A of the ABA League.

Leading the way for the win were McKinley Wright (24 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds), Mfiondu Kabengele (24 points, 9 rebounds), Dwayne Bacon (18 points), Dzanan Musa (13 points) and Aleksa Avramovic (10 points).

On the other hand, Mitch Creek was unstoppable: 33 points (10/11 from action, 9/11 from the free throw line), 3 rebounds, 3 assists and +43 efficiency. Dusan Miletic (13 points, 6 rebounds), Daron Russell (12 points), Trey Woodbury (12 points) and Karel Guzman (11 points) also stood out from Silvășan's team.

In this match, U-BT suffered their 5th defeat of the season in the ABA League, having 9 wins and occupying the third place in the A group.

Mihai Silvășan: “The goal would be to keep this mentality in other duels as well”

Congratulations to the Dubai team for their performance. I think they had an incredible night offensively. We fought and wanted to win this match, we didn't come here just to enjoy the atmosphere of a duel with a Euroleague team.

I think we were close for most of the game but they had some really good quality players who made the difference. Bacon, Wright and Kabengele were very, very good. I haven't found any solutions to stop them.

I am very proud of my team for the way they fought. The objective would be to keep this mentality in other duels and move on. There are 5 away games coming up, it will be a tough time. We need to rest and be ready

– Mihai Silvășan, U-BT Cluj-Napoca coach

Jurica Golemac: “I am happy that Romania has a team, an organization like this”

Congratulations to my players for a game taken very seriously, it was not an easy game. 35-40 hours ago we played in the Euroleague and lost a match that we think we needed to win.

Cluj has a very high pace and many very good basketball players in attack. We knew it would be hard to stop them. We were focused, we tried to find the free people and in attack we took advantage of the second chance and that gave us an advantage that we never gave up.

We have quality, we have Euroleague players and a much, much bigger budget than Cluj's. In the end, they showed why they are here and why they deserve to play in the Euroleague and be in this team.

In the last decade, Cluj is growing more and more and is more and more present. They have a great team, they are competitive every season. I saw them in the Adriatic League and the EuroCup. I am happy that Romania has a team, an organization like this and that it has the hall and the fans it has. It was nice to come here and the organization is at the highest possible level

– Jurica Golemac, Dubai Basketball coach

Ranking of group A in the ABA League

Adriatic League group A standings/Photo: capture aba-liga.com

The program of U-BT Cluj-Napoca

• January 20, 7:30 p.m » Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana vs. U-BT Cluj-Napoca (EuroCup)

• January 28, 9:45 p.m » BAXI Manresa vs. U-BT Cluj-Napoca (EuroCup)

• January 31, 8:00 p.m » Partizan Belgrade vs. U-BT Cluj-Napoca (ABA League)

• February 4, 8:00 p.m » Hapoel Jerusalem vs. U-BT Cluj-Napoca (EuroCup)

• February 7, 7:00 p.m » Borac Cacak vs. U-BT Cluj-Napoca (ABA League)

• February 11, 7:00 p.m » U-BT Cluj-Napoca vs. Aris Thessaloniki (EuroCup)

• February 15 » U-BT Cluj-Napoca vs. CSA Steaua Bucharest (Romanian Cup, quarter-finals, Oradea Arena)