U-BT Cluj-Napoca achieves a huge victory in the BTarena and continues to dream of the semifinals of the Adriatic League

On Thursday, May 7, after staying for around 20 minutes for a “personal discussion” with Mitch Creek, one of the team's leaders, Mihai Silvășan, the head coach of U-BT Cluj-Napoca came before the journalists to preface the second match of the series with Buducnost Podgorica, from the quarter-finals of the Adriatic League.

“I will tell you exactly what I told the players,” revealed the 41-year-old technician, in his 10th season at the helm of the black and whites. “We must, it is imperative that we try to win this game for our fans, first of all, who have supported us in all our home games and beyond this season“, added Silvășan.

The former Transylvanian captain spoke about the fact that they owe their victory both to themselves and to the supporters who came in large numbers to every game. “We are trying to prove that we are the best team in the Adriatic League apart from the three teams in the Euroleague,” underlined “Silva”.

U-BT Cluj-Napoca, perfect start: Mitch Creek and Trey Woodbury were unstoppable

The mission, however, was not easy at all: U-BT had lost the last 3 meetings with Buducnost and approached the game without Karel Guzmana basketball player who brings energy and intensity to the team of the Romanian champion.

The hosts also showed their desire for victory on the pitch and got off to a great start thanks to Mitch Creek and Trey Woodbury making it 13-5. The hall erupted, and Andrej Zakelj called the first time-out of the game.

At the same time, the tension of the game became immediately visible, and Silvășan received a technical foul for protesting a foul received by Jeffery Taylor. Later, at the press conference, he would explain that sometimes coaches choose to deliberately resort to gestures of this kind to wake up their team, to change the pace of the match.

Buducnost took advantage of this situation, because the referees changed the decision from a normal foul to an unsportsmanlike foul and scored 6 points. Taylor fought back with 5 points, but the first half was characterized by many mistakes by U-BT's players, also caused by an aggressive defense of the visitors.

Balance in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of the clash in the BTarena

Finally, the first quarter ended with the score 25-24 for Cluj. The contest remained balanced, offering several lead changes. The Montenegrins started to recover very well offensively and they went to the locker room with a 3-point advantage: 47-44.

After a dull performance in the first two quarters, Dusan Miletic evolved to another level in the second half and made his presence felt in the space of 3 seconds. A sequence followed in which the two camps “punched each other” like boxing, with the score changing at each phase.

Nighael Ceaser came out on top at the end of the penultimate act, scoring 5 points in the final minute, including a 3-pointer. So U-BT was leading 73-70 with 10 minutes left until the final whistle.

Could the Romanian champion last in this game, given that Taylor was injured and did not play after the break, further limiting Silvășan's rotation? The first minutes of the decisive quarter seemed to say yes: U-BT pulled away to 78-70 and Zakelj called for another time-out.

His instructions had the desired effect as the visitors ran out 7-2 winners, prompting the home coach to call for a time-out. Fletcher Magee and Axel Bouteille, Buducnost's “snipers”, shot impeccably from outside the semi-circle, and last season's finalist once again took the lead.

Daron Russell, in the confrontation with Buducnost/Photo: aba-liga.com

U-BT Cluj-Napoca, victory by 4 points, after a fabulous “triple” by “Fatts” Russell

Pushed from behind by a great audience, the Transylvanians did not give up the fight and, with 54 seconds left, they were leading 91-90. They missed, but the opponents didn't capitalize on the phase either. With 10.8 seconds to go, Daron Russell shot from long range and scored the basket that sealed the fate of the game.

U-BT Cluj-Napoca prevailed 94-90, leveled the series and ensured that a decisive match would follow. It's 1-1, and the Romanian champion is dreaming of another big victory in the Moraca Sports Center, through which she can achieve an impressive performance: qualifying for the semifinals of the Adriatic League.

U-BT Cluj-Napoca had 9 scorers, the best being Nighael Ceaser (15 points, 11 rebounds), Dusan Miletic (14 points, 8 rebounds), Daron Russell (14 points, 7 assists), Trey Woodbury (13 points, 5 rebounds), Mitch Creek (13 points) and Iverson Molinar (11 points).

On the other side, Juwan Morgan (15 points, 7 rebounds), Yogi Ferrell (14 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds) and Jerry Boutsiele (12 points, 5 rebounds) stood out.

Mihai Silvășan: “We wanted to prove to everyone that we didn't give up on this competition”

“We were missing some players, but we showed a lot of character, we controlled our emotions, the game and we managed to win. It was a huge match and very pleasant to coach,” said Silvășan, at the press conference.

“We wanted to prove to everyone that we didn't give up on this competition. Even though it would probably be a lot easier for us to go out and just focus on the National League. It would be easier, but we don't have that mentality“, added the technician from Cluj.

U-BT Cluj-Napoca qualified for the semifinals of the domestic championship and a series with SCM U Craiova awaits. The first matches were originally scheduled for May 11 and 13 respectively, but these will be changed to allow the Black and Whites to play the ABA League quarter-final decider.

The Romanian champion hopes to imitate the result of the EuroCup round of 16, to win once again in Montenegro and qualify for the “Ace Box” of the ABA Leagueto become “the best team in the competition outside of the Euroleague”.

“We want to fight and win every match we play. Sometimes we are successful, sometimes not. We are people, not robots. But this is our mentality and we want to be the best version of ourselves day by day,” Silvășan concluded.