Olimpia set the tempo early and never looked back cruising to an impressive 95-77 win over Varese, a team capable to win seven of its last nine games. Olimpia rested Malcolm Delaney, Sergio Rodriguez and Kyle Hines, used Devon Hall, Tommaso Baldasso and Jerian Grant at the point, had to play Nicolò Melli just for the first five minutes, then rested him too. Gigi Datome made a cameo in the first half, scored eight quick points then spent the rest of the night watching his teammates while Olimpia led by as many as 32 points.

When the defense reduced the pressure, Varese was free to run and gun and take advantage of it reducing the margin to 18 at the end. But most of the second half was garbage time. “For three quarters we played an excellent game, it looked like the natural prosecution of the Istanbul game – Coach Ettore Messina said – we moved the ball, we created a lot, we defended well against an aggressive team good at moving ball and players. And we did it saving our most used players.”

Olimpia dominated the boards, Kaleb Tarczewski had another great game inside along Dinos Mitoglou, Tommaso Baldasso started slow and finish strong, making his last four three-point attempts. Shavon Shields, looking for rhythm after the long absence, dished eight assists. “I’m happy for Tarczewski because now he has put together a sequence of good games and I’m confident he will give us a lot during this crucial part of the season,” Messina added. Tarczewski had 13 points and nine rebounds, Mitoglou 14 and nine, Troy Daniels also made four threes. Olimpia as a team had seven blocked shots, including three by a very active Paul Biligha. Olimpia is 19-3 in the Italian league.