By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Patrick Richard scored 12 out of his 22 points in the last 24 minutes as Cluj Napoca beat Enel Brindisi 76 – 71 on the road in the Basketball Champions League game of the week.
Richard scored the last 12 points of his team to lift Cluj to vitory. After hitting a floater for the 69 – 71, he drained the triple for the 71 – 74 with 44 seconds to play and then sealed the win of his team with a pair of free throws after Josh Perkins missed in his game-tying attempt.
Thanks to Richard’s brilliant finish and Andrija Stipanovic’s efficiency (24 points on 11-13 shots, plus six rebounds) Cluj registered its second win in two games of its first-ever Basketball Champions League campaign. Brindisi dropped to 0-2 despite the efforts of Nick Perkins (20 points) and Riccardo Visconti (15 points).
The fourth quarter was practically a rollercoaster since Cluj led by eight in the beginning only for Brindisi to rally for a big comeback and go up 57 – 51 thanks to a 16 – 2 run in four minutes. Richard was having none of that though and his eruption down the stretch turned the tables once more, this time in favor of his team for good.