The Romanian champs fought from an early deficit to force Aris into submission
Cluj turns the tide to grind out fine win at Aris
Отчеты о матчах
3 Минутное чтение
Regular Season
Round 9 of 18
Regular Season
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Aris Thessaloniki BetssonARI
8898
U-BT Cluj-NapocaUBT
group a
Overview
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U-BT Cluj-Napoca boosted its hopes of reaching the BKT EuroCup postseason after an 88-98 victory at Aris Thessaloniki Betsson which propelled the visitors to a 5-4 record in Group A while the Greek side dropped to 4-5 at the midway point of the regular season.
It was just what the doctor ordered for Cluj, with the Romanian champs' head coach Mihai Sivasan stressing that his men were hard pressed to bounce back from two defeats in three games after an 89-101 home loss to Hapoel Midtown Jerusalem.
Among a pack of performers, Australian forward Mitchell Creek stood out for Cluj with a personal-best 27 points, having sank 8 of 9 shots from inside while he also racked up 6 boards as the battling visitors wiped out a 9-point second quarter deficit.
Creek orchestrated the fightback and several of his teammates followed in his footsteps, as Molinar Iverson chipped in with 18 points and 8 assists while Fatts Russel had 16 points and 6 assists. Big man Dusan Miletic added 12 points 5 boards for the visiting team, which dished out 28 team assists as it shared the ball selflessly.
Creek summed up the contest by underscoring the die-hard Cluj mentality as the visitors were shorthanded in a pivotal game, which could have a massive impact on the chase for postseason spots.
“They were stressing, we were stressing,” the 33-year-old said after the game. “They were on a run, but we honestly played great defensive possessions, back to back.
“The guys all stepped up in the absence of some of our main players, but it’s the next man mentality as we’re well-coached and we just want to get on the rod and win games. To win here is amazing and a massive credit to the fans who came out tonight as this one of the best places I’ve played basketball.”
Trailing 41-38 at halftime, Cluj beefed up its defense in the third quarter and nosed ahead 58-60 ahead of the final 10 minutes before hitting top gear to fire on all cylinders when the chips were down. Shots came raining in from all angles in the fourth and there was even time for the jugular as Iverson produced the night’s magic moment with a big dunk from Creek’s assist.
Sivasan was purring with delight after the game, heaping praise on his team’s second-half effort at both ends of the court. “I am really happy for this win, especially as it came after the break. It was a really important game between two teams close in the standings so it’s a big away win for us,” he said.
“We only made 5 turnovers in the second half, and that helped us build on offense and have some easier points. I am also really proud that we had 28 assists, that’s a huge number. I am happy with the second half defense, we had better reactions and didn’t allow so many easy points and we’ll now just try to take it game by game.”
Aris head coach Igor Milicic conceded that his team’s lackluster second-half defense was pivotal, as Cluj drained 60 points after the interval. “They found the momentum to break our defense and we didn’t respond. You have to be smart and play with high intensity for 40 minutes.”
Amine Noua and newcomer Danilo Andjusic, who joined Aris from Dubai Basketball last month, were the two beacons of light for the Greek side as they netted 20 points apiece, but porous defending after the break drained the home team’s hopes of coming out on top.
