The showdown between Group B aces left the Romanian champs ahead in the race for second place.
Cluj rallies for thrilling 111-113 OT win at Gran Canaria



U-BT Cluj Napoca rallied from 19 points down to knock off Dreamland Gran Canaria 111-113 in an overtime thriller in the fight for a top-two spot in Group B. Gran Canaria was up 19 points in the first quarter, but the game was even late in the first half. Cluj itself lost an 8-point fourth-quarter lead and ended up winning in overtime on a tip-in by Emanuel Cate with 2 seconds left.
Jarell Eddie scored 24 points to lead Cluj with Patrick Richard and Cate both scoring 23 and Bryce Jones adding 21 points in the win for a 13-4 record and a four-game winning streak. Gran Canaria missed a chance to lock up a top-two finish as it fell to 12-5 despite Nicolas Brussino scoring 30 points and Andrew Albicy chipping in 20 points.
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Brussino and John Shurna both hit early three-pointers and the hosts went up 10-4. Another Gran Canara triple - this one from Albicy - extended the lead to double figures at 19-9. Brussino added another long ball and the cushion continued to grow to 26-13. The Gran Canaria offense just kept going with Pierre Pelos’s three-pointer making it 37-18 and the score was 37-20 after 10 minutes.
Jones scored 4 of Cluj’s first 6 points of the second quarter, resulting in a Gran Canaria timeout with the score 37-26. The home side responded with triples from Ferran Bassas and Sylven Landesberg to extend the gap to 45-28. Cluj held Gran Canaria scoreless for nearly 4 minutes and scored 13 straight points including Cate hitting his first three-pointer of the season and a three-point play to pull within 45-41. AJ Slaughter answered with a three-pointer and a four-point play to push the Spanish side up 54-46. Cluj punched back with the next 8 points to fully erase the 19-point lead at 54-54. Albicy’s three-pointer had Gran Canaria up 57-54 at the break.
Gran Canaria held Cluj without a point for the first 3 minutes of the second half and went ahead 61-54. Cluj captain Richard drained back-to-back three-pointers and the guests took the lead, 61-63. Two Jones free throws had Cluj leading 65-69 and it was 69-74 after an Eddie triple. The guests went into the fourth quarter with a 73-77 cushion.
Cluj did not score for the first 2 minutes of the final frame and Gran Canaria capitalized on back-to-back turnovers to regain the lead, 79-77. Eddie finally got a score for Cluj with a three-pointer and he added a floater and another three-pointer and the score was 81-89. Gran Canaria charged right back and triples by Albicy and Miquel Salvo knotted the game 93-93 with under 2 minutes left. Brussino’s 2 free throws to make it 95-93 were bettered by 3 foul shots from Richard with 58 seconds remaining. Slaughter and Brussino missed shots and Jones scored at the other end for a 95-98 lead with 22 seconds left. Albicy hit a driving layup, but missed the bonus free throw only to have Ben Lammers grab the offensive rebound. He could only convert 1 free throw to even the game 98-98 with 18 seconds left. Jones missed a three-point attempt to win the game.
After two Brussino scores early in overtime, Eddie drained another three-pointer and Richard’s foul shots made it 102-105. Albicy’s triple tied it and then Eddie made 2 foul shots. Albicy missed 2 free throws at the other end and then a dunk from Mareks Mejeris had Cluj ahead 105-109. Brussino would not give up with 2 three-pointers to level it again 111-111 with 7.5 seconds to go. In the closing possession, Mokoka missed a layup, but Cate tipped in the game-winner.