By Stefan Djordjevic/ sdjordjevic@eurohoops.net
U-BT Cluj Napoca has been the biggest surprise of the 2021-22 Basketball Champions League and the Romanian club is not slowing down the least as they make their first steps into the Round of 16.
The debutants already made a huge achievement by topping Group G in the regular season with a 5-1 record, in front of Hapoel U-NET Holon and Darussafaka which both made it through the Play-Ins.
That said, Cluj still retained the underdog status for the next stage, especially as they ended up in Group K with Unicaja Malaga, as well as Prometey and Filou Oostende.
The Spaniards were, in fact, their first opponent in the Round of 16 and a perfect test for what Cluj is capable of. They were very much aware of that significance and the squad went in fully focused and set on making a statement. And they certainly did.
Cluj won the opener against Unicaja and did so on the road, in Spain, handing Unicaja its first loss at home where they usually dominate the opposing team with an average margin of 23 points.
Furthermore, they did it in a convincing fashion, allowing Unicaja the lead only for a short while near the end of the first half.
The rest of the game was in Cluj’s control, leading by as much as 13 points in the third quarter and holding a safe distance even in crunch time when Unicaja made a significant effort to bounce back.
“We had to make them respect us”
Elijah Stewart was the main force behind the winning effort of Cluj with 26 points, marking a joint-high among all players starting a BCL game on the bench in the current season.
Stewart also embodied the will to prove they deserve respect from the biggest names in BCL.
“It was a good game. We knew coming in that it would be a tough environment to play in. We knew the stadium wouldn’t be packed but would still have 2,000 or something people. And we knew coming in that, as a club from Romania, they wouldn’t respect us so we had to make them respect us. And we proved what we can do tonight, stealing an away game, which was our goal,” he said.
Coach Mihai Silvasan echoed how big of achievement the win was.
“It’s a great achievement for us. It was a great honor for us to come and play against this team, to be in the same group. We respect a lot what Malaga means in European basketball and what Spanish basketball means in the world. But we have players that have the right mentality and we are not afraid of anybody we play against. In any game we play, we will for sure play with the mentality to win,” the coach stated and added.
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League