The Romanian side has a top-two finish in Group B in its sights.
Cluj took ‘another step’ towards a quarterfinal spot
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U-BT Cluj-Napoca has been surprising basketball fans all season long, having gone from missing the BKT EuroCup Playoffs in 2022-23 to now being in the driver’s seat to secure an automatic place in the quarterfinals.
On Wednesday night, the Romanian side remained calm and cool-headed following its thrilling 111-113 overtime win at Dreamland Gran Canaria, saying nothing has been accomplished yet.
Cluj fought back from 19 points down and knocked off the reigning EuroCup champio to jump into second place with one game to go in Group B. Mihai Silvasan’s team has its fate in its own hands ahead of a pivotal Round 18 trip to 7bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys on February 7.
“It was a great game, but we still have one more game to try to finish as high as we can. At the end of the day, it’s just another step,” said Cluj’s 26-year-old center Emanuel Cate, who set career highs of 23 points and a 38 PIR to go with 10 rebounds.
“We need to keep calm and keep working hard. It’s still a long season. We didn’t finish the season [today]. We need to stay focused,” added Cate after deciding the wild game with a tip-in with 2 seconds left on the clock.
An impressive leap this season
Cluj has improved to a 13-4 record, with its four losses being acceptable ones. It twice lost to group leader Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse in Rounds 3 and 12, as well as falling by 22 points at home to Gran Canaria in Round 8 and by 11 points at Turk Telekom Ankara in Round 10, which was the start of the Turkish club’s turnaround.
All this comes just one season after Cluj debuted in the EuroCup with a 5-13 record, as it missed the playoffs by three games having lost nine of its last 11 games.
Cluj also went 1-8 on the road in 2022-23. This season’s team – with leaders such as Patrick Richard, Karel Guzman, Andrija Stipanovic and Emanuel Cate all returning – has put together a 6-2 record away from home.
"I told them in the locker room: it’s amazing what happened. But it’s amazing if we continue to build on this,” Salvasan said after the big win at Gran Canaria. “We have one more game to win in order to be second. The fight for second place is not over yet. But for our confidence this is huge step forward for us.”
Salvasan assured everyone that his team is not thinking about who it might face in the quarterfinals or even that it has already reached that stage.
“We have the mentality to think game by game and possession by possession. That mentality brought us to this place.”