Metis Varese earned its second victory in Group D on Tuesday by defending its home court against previously undefeated Spirou Charleroi and taking a tough 75-69 decision. On a night when defense dominated and scorers suffered as a result, Varese made the decisive run beginning the final period, led by Frabcesco Vescovi. The veteran forward finished with 15 points, and managed the match in the last minutes for Varese. Metis shot 63% on two-pointers to balance a poor night of 18% accuracy from behind the three-point arc. Varese swingman Boris Gorenc, with 23 pointes, was the scoring leader on the floor with Vescovi adding his 15 and center Shawnelle Scott 10 points (plus 9 rebounds). For the guests from Belgium, Jim Potter bagged 19 points, Roger Huggins added 16, Marcus Faison 15 and Roel Moors 12. Varese raised its record to 2-1, the same as Charleroi, both teams in second place behind undefeated Zadar.

The game proved tough from the start, as both teams hit the floor with good intensity on defense, keeping the score really low throughout the first half, Metis Varese earned a 24-16 advantage beginning the second period, but Potter and Huggins helped Charleroi to come back quickly and the first half finished with 33-33 on the scoreboard and Potter as leading scorer with 11 points.

The game followed the same path, with low percentages, and in the last 5 minutes of the third period a 2-4 run by Charleroi gave the visitors a 48-50 lead. That's when Vescovi decided to wake up the 2,000 Varese fans with a personal show that led his team on the decisive run. IN the middle of the period, Varese was ahead 65-58. Charleroi tried to recover but Varese, despite an average performance from the charity stripe, mantained its slim advantage until the final buzzer.