Metis Varese has won its first ULEB Cup game after being ahead all 40 minutes but needing to survive in a thrilling finish to win 87-78 over visiting Caprabo Lleida of Spain. Lleida came back to within just 2 poinnts and also had the ball in the hands of former Varese forward Johnny Rogers to take the head. I the last minute, however a good performance form the foul line allowed Varese to impreveits advantage and give the home fans that all-important first ULEB Cup triumph. Andrea Meneghin was the decisive man in the game, netting 18 points for the winners. The top scorer for Varese, however, was Boris Gorenc, who bagged 20. Shawnelle Scott added 16 points in the paint for thew inners. For the guests from Lleida, Jaume Comas posted 15 points, Berni Alvarez 14 and Michael Ruffin 12.

Metis Varese started its return to European competition with an impressive run in the first 10 minutes, after which it led 26-10. The Spanish opponents from Lleida were completely astonished. Lleida wasn't able to play a decent defense to stop the half-court offense. which was really well-organized. The visitors were already having trouble shooting from long distance, too. In the second period, Varese managed the situation and Lleida tried playing tougher on defense to come back but they never got closer than 10 points. One dunk by Gorenc at the end of a spectacular fastbreak excited the Italian crowd. The teams went into the lockerroom with Varese leading 47-33 and center Scott already with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds. Gorenc was scoring in double figures already with 12 points while Comas with 6 points was the main contributor for Lleida.

In the third period Varese wasn't surprised by the reaction and intensity of Lleida and soon the Spanish team got the deficit below 10 points, at 59-50. Immmediately, Varese started again to play hard and score after using all the 24 second to take a shot and improved again its advantage. But in the last period with Meneghin sitting in the bench, and thanks their defense and imporved shooting percentage, Caprabo had the ball to take the head. But Rogers missed the three-pointer and Meneghin returned to the court for the last minutes to make sure his return to the European stage in Varese was sealed with an opening-game win in the ULEB Cup.