The hosts endured a torrid night against the physical Romanian outfit, which forced a barrage of tough shots and dominated the boards
Cluj outmuscled Hapoel with steely defense and hustle
Article
3 Minute de lecture
Regular Season
Round 5 of 18
Regular Season
group b
Hapoel Bank Yahav JerusalemJLM
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U-BT Cluj-NapocaUBT
group b
Overview
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Flying after a 67-103 demolition of Veolia Towers Hamburg in the previous round of the BTK EuroCup, U-BT Cluj-Napoca carried its momentum into Round 5 for an impressive 73-81 victory at Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem.
Karel Guzman stood out with a career-high 20 points for Cluj, which prevailed in almost all departments as the visitors won the battle of the boards 46-34 and nailed 11-of-26 three-pointers against a mere 6 of 23 sank by the Israeli outfit.
In addition, Cluj was clinical from the foul line as the visitors buried 10-of-12 free throws while Hapoel made 19 of 30, highlighting the home team’s scoring woes. With both sides hustling and playing aggressive defense, turnovers piled up at both ends as Cluj committed 22 and Hapoel had 16.
However, Cluj did a better job sharing the ball as it racked up 17 assists while Hapoel only managed 12 against a stingy visiting defense which cut out the supply routes to the home side’s shooters.
Despite Guzman’s heroics, including a clutch three-pointer which completed Cluj’s 0-13 run for an unassailable 67-80 lead in the closing stages, it was the relentless Adam Mokoka who won the player of the game award with 14 points and 9 boards.
“It’s a good team and very talented offensively but we never stopped fighting,” Mokoka said in a post-game courtside interview. “We had ups and downs, but from the beginning to the end we kept playing together and that’s how we got this win. We are in a good spell right now and we will try to build from here."
Cluj head coach Mihai Silvasan was pleased with his team’s effort but also rued a serious injury suffered by captain Patrick Richard.
“I am very happy with the performance and the fact that we won on a very difficult court against a good team,” he said.
“It’s a sign that we are growing from game to game in our effort to become a better team. Unfortunately, we just found out that our captain Patrick Richard suffered a double fracture to his hand and we’re very sad about that. We need to move forward step by step and be a team in every sense of the word.”
In Round 6, Cluj is at home to Umana Reyer Venice while Hapoel visits Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana as the battle for postseason spots in Group B intensifies.