By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Powered by fans back in the stands, U-BT Cluj Napoca earned its fourth Basketball Champions League Regular Season win defeating Happy Casa Brindisi, 104-94, Wednesday.
Experienced swingman Patrick Richard contributed 23 points and former USC standout Elijah Stewart threw in 20 more points. Four more players slid into double-digits through a short rotation with Brandon Brown combined 17 points with ten assists. Andrija Stipanovic had 15 points, Stefan Bircevic 14 points, and Dustin Hogue 12 points.
With coronavirus attendance restrictions recently lifted, the BTarena crowd became a key factor pushing the team coached by Mihai Silvasan past every comeback bid launched by the visitors. Apart from 35 seconds early in the Gameday 5 fixture, the hosts were in control with the lead peaking at 16 points. They shot 54.1% from the field, including 14/32 triples.
The Romania champions, perfect at the domestic level behind a 10-0 start in Liga Nationala, jumped to 4-1 in BCL Group G. They are set to visit Darussafaka aiming to clinch a berth in the Round of 16 next Wednesday.
Brindisi cut the deficit to shooting distance in both the third and fourth periods but failed to put more pressure on the team based in Cluj-Napoca. Nick Perkins, after scoring 19 points in the reverse fixture, banked in a game-high 26 points on the road, but his side was on the wrong end of a two-game sweep. Lucio Redivo registered 21 points.
Coming off a three-game losing streak causing a drop to 6-5 in Italy’s LBA Serie A, the side led by Francesco Vitucci fell to 1-4 in the Champions League Regular Season. A must-win situation paired with necessary outside help is coming up facing Hapoel U-NET Holon in Israel next Wednesday.
Postgame press conference:
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League