The Slovenian side sweeps season series with the Romanian outfit
Cedevita Olimpija wins shootout with Cluj at home, 103-96
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana started the second half of the regular season with an important 103-96 home victory over U-BT Cluj-Napoca for its second straight win in Group B. Cedevita fought off every challenge to sweep the season series with Cluj, having taken the road game 86-93 to hold the tiebreaker.
Cedevita improved to 6-4 with Devin Robinson scoring 25 points, Brynton Lemar totaling 23 points and Devante Jones and Jaka Blazic both adding 15 points. Cluj had been in excellent form with five wins in the last six games, but now have a 5-5 record. Mareks Mejeris’s 17 points and Zavier Simpson scoring 16 points were not enough for the road team.
Game Videos
Cluj started going inside to Zach Hankins early and the big man had six points in opening a 7-11 lead. Lemar answered with seven straight points to put the hosts ahead 14-11. Adam Mokoka came up with six points at the other end and Cluj went up 19-20. Cedevita led 24-23 after 10 minutes.
The early part of the second quarter saw both teams drain three three-pointers – two each by Mihai Maciuca for Cluj and Blazic for the hosts, who trailed 33-34. There were 10 lead changes before Lemar’s third triple gave Cedevita a 43-39 cushion. And three Aleksej Nikolic free throws extended the margin to 46-40. The home side was up 50-46 at the break.
Cedevita tallied the first six points of the second half to take the biggest lead of the game at 56-46, as Cluj failed to score for the first 3 minutes of the third quarter. Maciuca and Sasu Salin drained back to back triples at the other end and the deficit was four points. An 11-5 spurt made it a 10-point game again, and triples by Blazic and Martinas Geben pushed the advantage to 75-63 after three quarters.
Cluj had the better start of the final frame with a 3-10 run to pull within five points. Robinson and Jones combined for 12 points to keep Cedevita ahead 90-82. A DJ Seeley three-pointer and Karel Guzman dunk brought Cluj back within 90-87, but Robinson punched back with a three-pointer and Cedevita made 10 of 10 free throws in the final 119 seconds to lock up the win.