U-BT Cluj-Napoca, defeated by Red Star Belgrade in the BTarena! The Euroleague team dominated the second half and was close to scoring “a hundred”
Article by David Istrate – Published on Sunday, 08 March 2026, 20:47 / Updated on Sunday, 08 March 2026 20:59
In the second stage of the Top 8, U-BT Cluj-Napoca was defeated by Steaua Roșie Belgrad, a well-known team from Serbia, with 97-85. In the first half, the Romanian champion kept pace with the Euroleague opponent, but then the guests put on a show and got the victory.
Almost a month after the last game played at home, U-BT Cluj-Napoca returned to BTarena for the confrontation with Steaua Roșie Belgrad, the third Euroleague team that arrives this season in the city below Feleac.
Final. U-BT Cluj-Napoca – Red Star Belgrade: 85-97
Final match. 85-97. Red Star Belgrade, triumphant in the BTarena.
Min. 38. 80-93. After a basket by Miletic, U-BT closes to 13 points.
Min. 37. 73-90. The guests throw impressively from outside the semi-circle, and the name of the winner is no longer a mystery.
Min. 35. 69-85. Miller-McIntyre is unstoppable and reaches 27 points.
Min. 33. 67-82. Slam dunk for Ebuka Izundu and the gap increases to 15 points.
Start of the 4th quarter.
End of quarter 3. 65-78. The guests dominated this sequence, which they won 37-19.
Min. 28. 65-71. Time-out for U-BT, after Steaua Roșie trails by 6 points.
Min. 27. 63-64. 5 consecutive points scored by Codi Miller-McIntyre and the visitors take the lead.
Min. 26. 63-59. U-BT maintains its lead in the BTarena.
Min. 24. 58-55. Molinar and Russell each make a 3-pointer.
Min. 22. 48-47. Red Star Belgrade started the third sequence strongly.
Start of the 3rd quarter.
The end of the first half. 46-41. 5-point advantage for U-BT Cluj-Napoca after 20 minutes.
Min. 18. 44-38. With two minutes left in the first half, Silvășan asks for a rest time.
Min. 18. 44-35. Only 3 points scored in the last 3 minutes.
Min. 15. 42-34. 8-2 run for U-BT. Nighael Ceaser makes a great defensive rebound and then completes a slam dunk that heats up the atmosphere in the BTarena.
Min. 14. 34-32. Mihai Silvășan uses his first time-out of the game, after a “triple” scored by Dobric.
Min. 13. 34-29. Woodbury continues to lead the offense for the hosts.
Min. 12. 32-26. Trey Woodbury scores the first basket of the second sequence. U-BT defends itself excellently.
The start of the second quarter.
BTarena, before the start of the match U-BT Cluj-Napoca – Steaua Roșie Belgrad/Photo: aba-liga.com
End of the first quarter. 30-26. Solid game by the Romanian champion in the opening sequence.
Min. 9. 23-22. The visitors got within a single point of U-BT thanks to a basket scored by Ognjen Dobric.
Min. 7. 19-16. Partially 7-2 for Red Star Belgrade, after the rest time requested by the Serbian technician.
Min. 5. 17-9. Daron Russell scores two points, distances his team to eight points, and Sașa Obradovic is forced to ask for a time-out.
Min. 4. 11-8. The defender of the national team of Panama scores once more after an excellent penetration.
Min. 2. 6-5. Iverson Molinar starts the game great and quickly scores two baskets from distance.
Start of the match in the BTarena.
U-BT Cluj-Napoca chose this summer to continue its ascent in European basketball by participating in the Adriatic League. This brought him confrontations with several groups from the Euroleague, and the Romanian champion did very well, qualifying in the Top 8.
On Sunday, March 8, U-BT will have a new test, meeting Red Star Belgrade, a team in 7th position in the Euroleague, with a record of 17 wins and 13 losses. Two days ago, Sașa Obradovic's students received the visit of FC Bayern Munich and were defeated 85-80, after an excellent performance by Xavier Rathan-Mayes, the former player of CSU Sibiu.
The team from the capital of Serbia has basketball players such as Chima Moneke, former NBA player for the Sacramento Kings, Jared Butler, another athlete with NBA experience, Jordan Nwora, Codi Miller-McIntyre, Donatas Motiejunas or Nikola Kalinic.
“An extremely difficult match awaits us in Cluj, against a good team, which has shown its quality not only in the ABA League, but also in the EuroCup, qualifying for the knockout stage. It will not be easy, considering the physical and emotional exhaustion after the match with Bayern, but we must raise our level and find a way to play better than Friday and get the points,” said Obradovic, the head coach of Red Star Belgrade.
“Russell, Creek, Miletic and other players can cause problems and we will have to play with a lot of focus, be solid in defense to win“, added the Serbian technician.
Mihai Silvășan: “He is probably the strongest opponent we will meet this season”
U-BT Cluj-Napoca has not played since February 18, when it won the Romanian Cup, beating CSM Oradea 85-84. But Daron Russell, Iverson Molinar and Mitch Creek had games for the national teams they represent.
Also, Mihai Silvășan, the coach of the black and whites, led the Romanian national team in the preliminaries of the 2027 World Championship and returned to Cluj only at the beginning of this week.
“We don't think too much about the result, but we want to play a good game, be competitive and, why not, get a win in front of our own supporters, who we expect in large numbers to come and support us. Certainly, it is a match that requires a full hall and we are waiting for this to happen”, said Silvășan.
“It's not just any Euroleague team, it's in the top 5-6, it's a play-off formation. It's probably the strongest opponent we'll meet this season. That's exactly what I told the boys: it's a great chance for us to show that we can be competitive in such conditions, with very good teams and with players who have been developing at the highest level in Europe for a very long time,” said the 41-year-old technician about the opponent Cluj from this evening.
If in the matches with Partizan Belgrade, Dubai Basketball and Aris Thessaloniki, BTarena was sold-out, on the other hand, in the confrontation with Red Star Belgrade, they don't expect to play with the house closed.
