Flawless Alba daze high-powered Varese; Balkan and Bears move to 3-0

MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) – Alba Fehervar delivered a head-turning home performance to halt the previously undefeated Pallacanestro Varese, pushing their own record to 3-0 in Group F with an 85-77 triumph in Szekesfehervar on Tuesday evening.

After a pair of close escapes against FC Porto and Rilski Sportist, the Branislav Dzunic-coached side pulled off an upset against the Italians, who entered the week at the top of the standings.

Having held Varese in check for the first three quarters, Alba started to make their move at the end of the third quarter with a 17-5 run that put them ahead 70-60 with 7:23 left in the final stanza.

Marko Filipovity paced the Hungarian side with an efficient game-high of 17 points in 21 minutes of action, while team captain Peter Lorant stuffed the boxscore with 15 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals.

"We played a good game, especially in the second half. We rebounded well and found open players for assists. We expected them to be a little bit tired because of their [domestic] game from Sunday and we wanted to use that to our advantage," Lorant spoke after the game.

Dominique Archie and Ronald Moore had 15 and 14 points respectively for Varese, who dropped to a 2-1 mark following the upset in Hungary.

The 🐻's are not messing around! #FIBAEuropeCup

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— FIBA Europe Cup (@FIBAEuropeCup) October 30, 2018

Elsewhere, there were also wins for Bakken Bears and Balkan Botevgrad, who continued their winning streaks with double-digit triumphs on Tuesday to join the 3-0 club.

An all-round game of 26 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists by Tobin Carberry propelled the Danes to a 108-84 victory over Z Mobile Prishtina. It was the third time in as many games in Group E that the Bakken Bears, the top-scoring team in the FIBA Europe Cup this season, reached the century mark.

Michel Diouf chipped in with 18 points, Ryan Evans had 16 points and 7 assists, while Ryan Martin finished just shy of a double-double with 14 points and 9 rebounds next to his name on the boxscore.

For Prishtina, Demario Mayfield had a team-high 21 points and 8 rebounds, as Kyan Anderson and Dardan Berisha added 16 and 15 points, respectively.

Meanwhile, Balkan inscribed a 78-66 win over Belfius Mons-Hainaut in Group B, which also took them to an unmatched 3-0 mark. Brandon Brown and Mikael Hopkins shared the team-high mark of 15 points for the winners, while Chris Jones scored 19 points in a losing effort for the visitors from Belgium.

FIBA