U-BT Cluj-Napoca celebrated its first-ever 7DAYS EuroCup victory in style on Wednesday, inspiring 9,300 fans at sold-out bt-arena by taking a huge 94-76 victory over Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana.
Cluj soars to first EuroCup victory!



Cluj (1-0) raced to big leads early that reached 44-24 before halftime. A 14-2 run to start the second half seemed to put the game out of reach at 62-33, but a proud Cedevita lowered the difference to single digits before Cluj closed the door. Stefan Bircevic paced Cluj with 24 points. Leonardo Meindl combined 19 points with 11 rebounds. Karel Guzman added 16 points and Emanuel Cate 11. Josh Adams of Cedevita threatened a triple-double with 25 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds before leaving injured with almost 5 minutes left. Alen Omic added 17 points and Aaron Harrison 15 for Cedevita, whose record fell to 0-2.
Game Videos
Bircevic and Cate shot Cluj in front by 10-4 before Meindl's 5 quick points took the hosts up 17-9. Omic's layup sparked a 0-6 Cedevita run, but Nandor Kuti added a triple and Patrick Richard beat the buzzer as Cluj led 28-17 after 10 minutes. Meindl, Guzman, Cate and Bircevic, with a fastbreak slam, lifted the difference to 40-23. Andrija Stipanovic soon copied him for a 20-point lead that Cedevita's Adams trimmed to 48-31 at halftime. Jordan Taylor sparked a 14-2 start to the third quarter which finished with Guzman and Meindl hitting back-to-back threes at 62-33. Cedevita finally reacted with a 6-20 run to finish the quarter within 68-53. Adams hit free throws and a runner to open the final quarter at 68-57, before Guzman's put-back calmed the hosts. Still, Aaron Harrison beat the shot-clock buzzer at 70-60. Bircevic and Rok Radovic traded triples but Adams had the next one at 73-66. Meindl and Guzman came to Cluj's rescue as the hosts used an 11-3 run to go back up 15 and take it to the finish from there.