U-BT Club-Napoca gained a rousing home win over Joventut Badalona, 98-82, on Wednesday. With the victory Cluj improved to 3-4, within a game of Joventut, which dropped to 4-3. Joventut led for most of the first half, but Cluj finished strong for a 46-41 halftime lead. The host continued to dominate as the advantage grew as high as 15 points in the third quarter, and Joventut couldn’t get closer than 8 points the rest of the way.
Cluj pummels Joventut, 98-82
Leo Meindl led the way for Cluj with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Karel Guzman (19 points) and Nemanja Gordic (11 points and 9 assists) also excelled. Pau Ribas and Andres Feliz shined in defeat for Joventut with 20 points apiece.
Game Videos
Early triples for Feliz and Ribas sent Joventut ahead, 2-6. A trio of baskets from Meindl gave Cluj the lead, 16-14, but Ribas scored twice to make it 17-22 after 10 minutes. Meindl and Sanders hit three-pointers to tie it at 29-29. Ribas scored twice in a 0-7 run, but Victor Sanders and Gordic did likewise for a 46-41 halftime lead.
Stefan Bircevic and Guzman started the second half with a pair of triples apiece, 60-51, and Sanders added back-to-back threes to make it 70-56. Patrick Richard also struck twice from deep to bridge the third and fourth quarters, 79-65, before 5 points from Feliz rallied Joventut to 83-75. But two more scores from Meindl helped seal a comfortable home victory.