Pepsi Caserta enjoyed a victorious start to the Eurocup with a 78-85 come-from-behind road win over Krasnye Krylia at the Universal Sports Hall on Tuesday thanks to guard Fabio Di Bella’s 25 points. The Red Wings led by 13 in the third quarter, but Caserta when on a 2-19 run sparked by the offensive prowess of Di Bella, Timmy Bowers and Jumaine Jones to take the lead at heading into the fourth quarter and the visitors made it stand. Krasnye Krylia could not translate a big night by Primoz Brezec, who had 24 points on perfect shooting and 7 rebounds, into their first win of the competition. Luca Garri added 17 points and Ebi Ere scored 11 for Caserta, which hosts Anwil Wloclawek next week. Krasnye Krylia got 13 points from Konstantin Nesterov and JR Bremer added 12 plus 4 assists. The Red Wings travel to play Alba Berlin next Tuesday.

The Red Wings had reason to be excited early on and jumped to a 4-0 start by establishing a post presence. Brezec was a force for the hosts from the get go, as he totaled 20 points in the first half, going a perfect 9 for 9 from the field and dominating the paint, which allowed head coach Mikhail Mikhailov’s side to maintain the margin at 24-20 by the end of the first quarter. Caserta tried to counter Brezec’s scoring spree in the second with Di Bella pushing the tempo some and getting Bowers involved. Brion Rush was up and down for the hosts, as he committed 4 turnovers, but still was able to dish out 5 assists and provide a steal in the half, which ended with a considerable 46-37 cushion for Krasnye Krylia.

But whatever coach Caserta bos Stefano Sacripanti told his players during halftime, it seemed to work, as the visitors started clawing back into it after Rush had pushed the host’s biggest margin of the game to 55-42 with a layup. A 2-19 run led by Di Bella, Bowers and Jones gave the lead to Caserta at 57-58 and the visitors entered the final quarter up 59-61. The Red Wings tried to pry the lead back, but could not get Brezec going again, as he only scored one more basket in the second half. It was Garri who instead dominated inside, as he scored 5 straight points to start the fourth quarter and added 6 to cap it off. Bremer tried to keep his team in the game with penetration baskets, triples and trips to the foul line, but could never push Krasnye closer than 3 as Caserta’s defense, which forced 15 turnovers, held on for the 78-85 road victory.