Storied Varese to face first-timers Skyliners in FIBA Europe Cup Final

One of the most decorated clubs in history, Openjobmetis Varese, will do battle in the title game of the inaugural FIBA Europe Cup with Fraport Skyliners who just entered their maiden European final on Friday in Chalon-sur-Saone.

Varese crushed the hopes of Final Four hosts Elan Chalon 91-82 in a very entertaining first Semi-Final clash, replete of highlight reel plays.

The Italian side trailed their French hosts 53-48 at the half-time interval but kicked off proceedings in the second half on an 11-0 run to jump in the driver's seat once and for all.

Chalon stopped the rot late in the third but Varese repeated the feat at the start of the fourth frame and used an 8-0 run to grab their biggest lead all night, 78-64, with eight left to play.

Christopher Wright master-minded the Varese offence and collected a near double-double of 12 points and nine assists while Brandon Davies and Rihards Kuksiks, who went 5-of-8 from long range, finished with a team-high 17 points each.

The unexpected hero of the night however for the Italian legendary club was big man Luca Campani, who came off the bench and picked up 16 points, four boards and one block.

“We suffered a lot, especially in the second quarter where they were killing us in transition,” said Varese head coach Paolo Moretti.

“But everybody fought to reduce the gap to five points at half-time and that was important because it gave us the chance to regroup in the locker-room.”

Chalon earned 21 offensive rebounds but did not exploit that as much as they needed, scoring only ten second-chance points. 

The hosts also struggled to defend the high pick'n'roll which the Varese point guards used repeatedly to penetrate or create shots for their team-mates.

Jeremy Hazell had 19 points but on 6-of-22 shooting while Devin Booker collected a double-double of 16 points and 13 boards in defeat.

In stark contrast, the second Semi-Final was a low-scoring affair with the two teams enduring a tough shooting night but that matters little to Skyliners, who ended up prevailing 59-56 over Enisey Krasnoyarsk.

Enisey connected from downtown late in the third and grabbed their biggest lead, 45-39, with three seconds remaining in the period.

The Frankfurt team however used a 9-0 run at the start of the final stanza to reverse the momentum and never looked back, showcasing down the stretch the steely defence that has been their trademark all season.

Johannes Voigtmann scored nine of his team-high 16 points in the fourth quarter to instigate Frankfurt's final push and added seven rebounds, while Jordan Theodore chipped in with 12 points and seven assists.

“We tried to move the ball because we have good shooters on our roster but it wasn't easy for us until the last quarter,” Voigtmann said afterwards.

“I had the feeling we could only score in transition. 

“Then the coach said we should try to go inside, we drew some fouls and that got us going, it helped us get some open looks and we made some big shots.”

Enisey committed 24 turnovers, 11 more than their season average going into the game.

“We turned the ball over too frequently and that was critical for us as there were so many possessions we did not even get the chance to fire off a shot,” commented Enisey head coach Oleg Okulov afterwards.

For the Russian team, Pavel Sergeev had 13 points while David Kennedy and Tony Taylor contributed 12 apiece in losing efforts.

Follow Sunday’s Third-Place Game and Final live on www.livebasketball.tv

For full FIBA Europe Cup coverage click here.