The 35-year-old enjoyed a near-flawless performance in propelling his team to victory over Turk Telekom
Evergreen D.J. Seeley shined for Cluj with several career-highs
Article
3 Mins read
U-BT Cluj-Napoca celebrated a lifeline win in the hunt to clinch a BTK EuroCup playoff berth with a 94-81 home win over Turk Telekom Ankara, courtesy of a majestic individual performance from D.J. Seeley who poured a career-high 31 points and broke two other personal records too.
Seeley, who entered the game averaging 9.7 points per game this season, also set a new personal best of 8 three-pointers as well as a PIR of 33, firing Cluj to a 9-7 record in Group B with two games remaining in the regular season.
Next up for Cluj are outings to 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys and Aris Midea Thessaloniki, with both of the Romanian champs' opponents confined to playing for pride only as neither team has any chance of making the postseason.
Cluj coach head Mihai Silvasan issued a stern warning to his troops to forget about any complacency after a stellar performance against Turk Telekom, with Zavier Simpson also delivering the goods as he racked up 21 points and 10 assists.
“It’s another win in the fight to qualify for the playoffs in a better spot,” Sivasan said in his postgame comments. “We did our job and won a home game, now we have to move forward and stay focused. We have two more games, both on the road against teams who are no longer in qualification contention, but they are still tough games and hence there won’t be too many celebrations after tonight’s win.”
Seeley echoed Silvasan’s views, having issued a rallying cry for consistency to his teammates. “It was a great game and (Turk Telekom) is a good team,” he said. “They came here and fought like we knew they would, but we battled and showed how tough we are. We need to play every game like this.”
Game Videos
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U-BT Cluj-Napoca-Turk Telekom Ankara | Round 16 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup
- 00:14
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/cd5bc455-e41a-4367-a103-92808b23f8f3.jpg?crop=1288%3A724%3Anowe%3A31%3A30]()
Lovely team baseline move by Cluj! Magic Moment
- 00:07
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Great alley oop from Durmaz and Alexander! Magic Moment
- 00:23
![https://dve-images.imggaming.com/original/p/2025/01/15/kArSwLJSSK2K026bhzljvdCqk5IRsRFg-1736978896254.jpg]()
Flying Alexander! Magic Moment of the Night
![https://img.youtube.com/vi/r_IM8-CGA2U/maxresdefault.jpg]()
Umana Reyer Venice-U-BT Cluj-Napoca | Round 15 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup
- 00:11
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/05ff8965-56a0-42c2-ac7f-457f2bf26508.jpg?crop=1080%3A607%3Anowe%3A135%3A118]()
Salin creates a fastbreak from the floor! Magic Moment
- 00:11
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/a88fc0b9-9773-40b6-849e-f8112d5d7b26.jpg?crop=1080%3A608%3Anowe%3A167%3A39]()
Zimpson dances and scores! Magic Moment
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Turk Telekom Ankara-Veolia Towers Hamburg | Round 15 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup
- 00:13
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Smith and Makoundou combine! Magic Moment
- 00:18
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Alexander on the alley oop! Magic Moment
- 00:14
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/4e6509f3-dff9-4f02-8cef-41cdb6ab8731.jpg?crop=1010%3A568%3Anowe%3A152%3A113]()
Makoundou gets airborne to hammer it home! Magic Moment
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/c5c4946d-f4ae-4bdc-8dc0-09a52372ac70.jpg]()
U-BT Cluj-Napoca-Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem | Round 14 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup
- 00:11
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Stephens posterizes Smith! Magic Moment
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Valencia Basket-Turk Telekom Ankara | Round 14 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup
- 00:14
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/6218a6e4-0c21-414a-949c-57672f931bd2.jpg?crop=1080%3A608%3Anowe%3A126%3A175]()
Makoundou denies Badio!! Magic Moment
- 00:35
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Mokoka takes off for the massive dunk! Magic Moment of the Night
![https://img.youtube.com/vi/Y9kg3RC5GC0/maxresdefault.jpg]()
U-BT Cluj-Napoca-Veolia Towers Hamburg | Round 13 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/6b323ac5-591b-498c-af8b-c27364c3c483.jpg]()
Turk Telekom-Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse | Round 13 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup
- 00:14
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Mokoka takes off for the massive dunk! Magic Moment
- 00:10
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/e4d5576d-b5b0-401c-ac78-c05db2b2ef9f.jpg?crop=1080%3A608%3Anowe%3A62%3A178]()
Bess with eyes in the back of his head! Magic Moment
- 00:09
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/2e41e3d1-0b0e-439b-98c4-eb7a4a38913a.jpg?crop=1004%3A565%3Anowe%3A269%3A78]()
Hankins finds Mejeris for the slam! Magic Moment
- 00:22
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Makoundou's alley-oop slam! Magic Moment
- 00:58
![https://dve-images.imggaming.com/original/p/2024/12/26/zGIoakj3w2RsLjxPZ3EgZkOUvVFyhRz6-1735247597729.jpg]()
Jaylen Hoard: 'Happy about the way we played defense today'
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/3b41ad96-3937-4f44-8d85-e1141c8d0123.jpg]()
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv-Zalgiris Kaunas | RS Round 18 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:09
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Smailagic takes off! Motorola Magic Moment
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Valencia Basket-U-BT Cluj-Napoca | Round 12 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup
![https://img.youtube.com/vi/xXPPuE3QQpU/maxresdefault.jpg]()
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana-Turk Telekom Ankara | Round 12 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup
- 00:11
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Simpson's circus shot! Magic Moment
- 00:11
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Stewart dunks off a steal! Magic Moment
- 00:10
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Robinson throws it down! Magic Moment
- 00:13
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Alexander blocks and Robinson dunks!
![https://img.youtube.com/vi/Jji9axLj4fs/maxresdefault.jpg]()
U-BT Cluj-Napoca-Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse | Round 11 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup
- 00:28
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/ce750352-36a6-4eaf-a17d-105f866432fe.jpg?crop=1191%3A670%3Anowe%3A103%3A62]()
Seeley's three to take the lead for good! Magic Moment
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Turk Telekom Ankara-Aris Midea Thessaloniki | Round 11 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup
- 00:11
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/40a8fb17-a93a-470d-bbf2-ba8aeb7bcd48.jpg?crop=1271%3A715%3Anowe%3A0%3A68]()
An open lane for Guzman's dunk! Magic Moment
- 00:30
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/049e436b-d82f-40d6-b6ab-f0f547d742e7.jpg?crop=1080%3A608%3Anowe%3A83%3A172]()
Big hustle, big dunk! Magic Moment
- 00:21
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Makoundou's big block! Magic Moment
- 00:13
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Makoundou's put-back dunk! Magic Moment
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7-bet Lietkabelis Panevezys-Turk Telekom Ankara | Round 10 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup
- 00:27
![https://dve-images.imggaming.com/original/p/2024/12/03/BTGH04Yt0du0CkpC3jILvLWipkRMQLOn-1733264308516.jpg]()
Guzman with the massive dunk on the break! Magic Moment of the Night
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/9699c983-d978-48e4-ab59-59bd3a23002f.jpg]()
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana-U-BT Cluj-Napoca | Round 10 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup
- 00:09
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/6f2ab088-9fb2-49bf-8afa-cd5359c80bd6.jpg?crop=737%3A414%3Anowe%3A237%3A54]()
Hankins throws it down! Magic Moment
- 00:19
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Simpson-Hankins connection! Magic Moment of the Night
![https://img.youtube.com/vi/LymUl0EaDvU/maxresdefault.jpg]()
Turk Telekom Ankara-Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem | Round 9 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup
![https://img.youtube.com/vi/1IQTDgXgJiw/maxresdefault.jpg]()
U-BT Cluj-Napoca-Aris Midea Thessaloniki | Round 9 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup
- 00:12
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/09297ac2-b6ab-46cf-9f1c-0c365e106183.jpg?crop=1080%3A608%3Anowe%3A135%3A146]()
Karel Guzman throws it down! Magic Moment
- 00:10
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Simpson finds Stephens! Magic Moment
![https://img.youtube.com/vi/zAQbOas_bH8/maxresdefault.jpg]()
Umana Reyer Venice-Turk Telekom Ankara | Round 8 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup
- 00:15
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A monster one-handed jam by Makoundou! Magic Moment
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U-BT Cluj-Napoca-7-bet Lietkabelis Panevezys | Round 8 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup
Turk Telekom head coach Erdem Can conceded that Cluj had outshot his men from all over, as the Romanian outfit sank 11 of 19 from downtown while the visitors made 8 of 29. Cluj also had more assists (23-18) and field goals from inside (23-22), thriving on vocal home crowd support in a packed gym.
“We weren’t up to standards defensively, which allowed them to score a lot of easy buckets from one-on-one situations,” said Can. “Offensively, we didn’t share the ball the right way, especially at the beginning of the second half and that was a major problem.”
Turk Telekom, which is also on a 9-7 record and still well-placed to reach the playoffs, is at home to Umana Reyer Venice in Round 17, with the matchup likely to be a dogfight for a postseason berth. The Turkish team closes out its regular season campaign against Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem in Round 18.