The Romanian side left it late but managed to seal a win at Slask Wroclaw that keeps its unbeaten start intact.
D.J. Seeley stepped up at both ends to inspire Cluj comeback
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One week after scoring as many as 50 points in the first half against Turk Telekom Ankara, U-BT Cluj-Napoca struggled on offense and only reached the half-century mark at the end of the third quarter against Slask Wroclaw. Then, up stepped D.J. Seeley, who produced a player-of-the-match performance.
The 33-year-old Seeley went 6-for-10 from behind the arc for a game-high 24 points, including 16 of Cluj’s 37 points in the second half. In fact, the Cluj guard single-handedly led the guests to an impressive comeback, scoring 34% of their points in the game.
Most of his baskets after the break were crucial, as he helped Cluj to fight back from 15 points down. Slask took a 56-41 lead with 3:11 to go in the third quarter, but Seeley sank back-to-back three-pointers to get Cluj within 56-48 heading into the last quarter.
“I feel great, man,” Seeley said after the game. “That was a great comeback. We played terribly throughout the game. We missed shots, we were bad on defense, but we found a way to win it in the end.”
Cluj left it late
Some poor shooting didn’t allow Cluj to bounce back and Slask was leading 64-57 with three and a half minutes remaining, when the hosts were pushing to finish the game off. But, Seeley came to the fore again and found Adam Mokoka for a monster dunk after stealing the ball to trim the deficit down to 5 points, 64-59. That slam served as a boost in morale for the visitors, with Seeley going on to sink two three-pointers in a row to bring Cluj within 67-66.
“Offensively, we couldn’t score that much,” Cluj head coach Mihai Silvasan commented after the game. “Seeley stepped up and was very good in some big moments and he scored some important shots.”
With 0:25 left on the clock, Eddie Jarell gave the guests their first lead since the opening stages of the first quarter. Slask had the last possession, but Seeley registered his fifth steal of the night to practically put the game to bed and seal Cluj’s second win in as many BKT EuroCup games this season.