Pippo Ricci had a double double, 19 points and 10 rebounds, five of them offensive, to lead Olimpia to a commanding 94-63 win over Varese in the most historic rivalry in Italian basketball. Olimpia took control early in the game, exploiting its size adavantages with the guards and starting its game inside out to build many open threes. Five of them in the first period opened up a huge lead that Varese was not able to reduce the rest of the night. When the shooting percentages fell down a little (however Olimpia closed the night 12-for-32 from the arc), rebounds made the difference. “We made the game look easy. It wasn’t,” Coach Ettore Messina pointed out. Olimpia was badly shorthanded, no Mirotic, no Napier, two starters, no Tonut, Flaccadori and finally no Poythress. But everybody played with intensity and enthusiasm. Ricci scored 15-first half points and dominated the night. For Olimpia it was the seventh consecutive win in the Italian league nad allowed the team to clim on second place tied with Bologna and Venezia, the next two opponents.