By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Dominating the first half in the battle of domestic champions, U-BT Cluj Napoca went on to defeat Filou Oostende, 85-74, clinch a berth in the Basketball Champions League Quarterfinals and top Group K Tuesday evening.
The team guided by Mihai Silvasan bossed around Oostende in the first twenty minutes of the Round of 16 Gameday 6 contest. Connecting 7/11 from beyond the arc in the first quarter generated a double-digit lead. Distance grew to 22 points in the second quarter. The second half was a different story but narrowly held on with the hosts moving into shooting distance.
Experienced swingman Patrick Richard recorded a team-high 17 points but was kept quiet in the last ten minutes. Taking over, Bosnian Andrija Stipanovic scored half of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. Stefan Bircevic packed 13 points, Dustin Hogue with 12 points, and Karel Guzman with 11 points rounded up double-digit scoring efforts.
The team located in Cluj-Napoca finished the Round of 16 at 3-1 to land first place. Unicaja’s 2-2 was eventually good enough for second. Both teams will move on to the Quarterfinals. Friday’s draw will determine their best-of-three series opponents.
The Belgium champions falling to 1-3 were eliminated. They needed a win by a margin greater than six points to progress and over 17 points to secure first place. Moving past the Regular Season for the second time was ultimately the success for the lasting Champions League original.
Former Utah standout Mikael Jantunen poured a game-high 20 points in the losing effort at Versluys Dome. Pierre-Antoine Gillet (Achilles tendon) and Brandon McCoy (knee) remained on the injury list.
Dario Gjergja’s side will now focus on the betFirst BNXT League Elite Gold after starting the stage with two wins in as many games.
Postgame press conference:
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League