Buducnost got revenge against U-BT Cluj-Napoca in the ABA League! EuroCup “quarters” to come: “I'm proud of the fight”
Article by David Istrate – Published on Saturday, 14 March 2026, 23:40 / Updated on Saturday, 14 March 2026 23:42
3 days after defeating Buducnost Podgorica 100-82, qualifying for the quarter-finals of the BKT EuroCupU-BT Cluj-Napoca played again with the team from the capital of Montenegro, this time in the Adriatic League. After a first half dominated by the hosts, the guests managed to come back and take the lead, but the victory was achieved by the blue and white: 94-89.
On Wednesday, March 11, U-BT Cluj-Napoca had an excellent performance on Buducnost's field and managed to prevail with a difference of 18 points and overturn the paper calculations, securing a duel with Bahcesehir Istanbul, in the quarter-finals of the BKT EuroCup.
U-BT Cluj-Napoca, defeated by Buducnost Podgorica, despite an excellent comeback in the second half
Saturday, March 14, the Romanian champion returned to the Moraca Sports Center for a new duel with Andrej Zakelj's bandthis time in the Top 8 of the Adriatic League. U-BT's players entered the field lacking concentration and intensity, probably thinking about Tuesday's EuroCup match.
Instead, Buducnost's basketball players started the game determined to get revenge in front of their own supporters. They took advantage of their opponents' mistakes and dominated the first half, leading 29-17 after the opening quarter and 55-44 at halftime.
After returning from the locker room, Mihai Silvășan's students played much better, they didn't commit as many mistakes, and the formation with two pivots, Nighael Ceaser and Dusan Miletic, worked excellently.
The gap on the table gradually decreased and at one point U-BT took the lead: 80-79. The Montenegrins responded, managed the end better and came closer to victory.
14 seconds before the end, a conflict broke out between the players of the two camps, and Trey Woodbury (U-BT) and Djordje Jovanovic (Buducnost) were penalized with disqualifying fouls, while Mitch Creek (U-BT) and Yogi Ferrell (Buducnost) each received a technical foul.
In the end, Buducnost prevailed 94-89, in front of 550 fans eager for rematch. Leaders for the winner were Rasheed Sulaimon (23 points), Skylar Mays (18 points), Juwan Morgan (13 points), Axel Bouteille (12 points) and Yogi Ferrell (11 points).
On the other side, Karel Guzman (19 points), Daron Russell (16 points), Trey Woodbury (13 points) and Mitch Creek (13 points) stood out.
After this result, U-BT Cluj-Napoca reaches a record of 10 wins and 8 losses and occupies the 6th place in the Top 8. Instead, Buducnost VOLI, with 15-4, is in third position in the ranking.
The black and whites will fly directly to Istanbul where they will face Bahcesehir on Tuesday, March 14 at 18:00 for qualification to the EuroCup semi-finals.
Mihai Silvășan: “I knew it would be very challenging to get my players to have the same mentality”
A tough match. We were coming off a huge win on Wednesday. I knew it would be very challenging to get my players into the same mindset as 3 days ago. Obviously, at first I didn't manage to do that. We let Buducnost distance themselves to 14-15 points.
But then I'm really proud of how we fought in the second half and how we came back into the game. I had a chance to win. I told the players that the difference was made by the mentality we had. That allowed us to make only 6 mistakes in the second half, 3 in the last minute. In the first half, we scored 13, so that's the difference. It starts with the mindset.
We came here, we really wanted to win on Wednesday, we did. We wanted to win and today, we fought. I'm definitely proud that my team fought in these two matches and we got these successes: Wednesday's win and today's fight
– Mihai Silvasan
