In its second BKT EuroCup campaign, U-BT Cluj-Napoca jumped out to a very different start to the season that its first.
Newcomers led Cluj to first win



Cluj opened the 2022-23 EuroCup Regular Season with three consecutive losses. This time, playing in front of 6,000 fans at BT-Arena, Cluj beat Turk Telekom Ankara 80-71. Some of its newcomers made things happen and allowed Cluj to down last season's runner-up.
Cluj led from start to finish, going on a 12-0 opening run and boosting its margin to 28-14 after 10 minutes and then again to 50-23 near halftime. Bryce Jones and Adam Mokoka came off the bench and made things happen early in the second quarter and Jarell Eddie's first three-pointer gave Cluj its biggest lead of the night.
Turk Telekom was far from done and returned to the game, trimming its deficit to 61-58 with 8 minutes remaining. Eddie did what he does best, pull the trigger from downtown, then Jones had 8 quick points, including his own triple and a wild layup-plus-foul, to restore a double-digit advantage for Cluj and eventually win the game.
Jones showcased his one-on-one skills, finishing the game with 14 points and 5 assists. D.J. Seeley, a well-rounded veteran in his first season with Cluj, proved to be a reliable scoring option at all times and ended up with 12 points. Mokoka had 7 points in 14 minutes and Eddie struck three times from beyond the arc, the last one to stop Turk Telekom's comeback down the stretch.
Cluj kept a core of players led by Andrija Stipanovic, Karel Guzman and Patrick Richards, but its newcomers have given head coach Mihai Silvasan plenty of new options on offense. That has translated right away into a first home win against a top contender, which allows Cluj to be more ambitious after missing the playoffs last season.
"It is our first victory and we need to move forward," Silvasan said after the game. "It is just one victory, our goals are much higher than that."