Taze Moore (24 points) leads the Lombardy team to an 84-80 victory. Openjobmetis thus leads Naples to 12 points in the standings for the temporary sixth place
The 2026 championship opens with a crackling Varese-Napoli at the Itelyum Arena in Masnago, with Kastritis’ team winning 84-80 thanks to the best performance of the season by Taze Moore, author of 24 points and heavy baskets in the final. In a match without a master, played with high intensity and full of errors on both sides, it was the greater will of Openjobmetis that made the difference: Varese in fact shoots 9/35 from 3, but Napoli does even worse with a terrible 4/21 to which are added 20 – very heavy – turnovers. Kastritis’ team achieves their third consecutive victory and joins Guerri in the standings in sixth place with 12 points, reshuffling the cards for qualification for the Final Eight in Turin.
the match
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Neither team manages to get their hands on the match, with several errors on both sides: Varese shoots 5/18 from 3 and loses 7 balls, Napoli just 2/10 with 9 turnovers. However, it was the home team who attempted an extension in the 1st quarter: Alviti’s second triple made it 17-10 after 7′, but the Neapolitans responded with the physicality of Flagg and Simms. Varese loses 5 balls in the 2nd quarter, and the penetrations of Bolton and Faggian do the rest: Napoli even finds the +8 (32-40 at 18′), but Moore immediately brings his team closer with 6 points in a row, taking advantage above all of the offensive rebounds (10 at halftime). After the 38-42 in the first half, the script of the match does not change: the intensity, if possible, increases further, with Varese clinging to Nkamhoua and Moore, while Napoli responds with Mitrou-Long and Bolton, and a triple from Assui makes it 62-60 in the 30th minute. In the final, the game continues to turn like an omelette: first Napoli exploits the spark of El-Amin, who with 10 consecutive points brings his team to 62-69, but yet another response arrives from Varese with Moore, who scores a triple with 3’30 to go to make it 74-73. It is he, then, who seals his super performance by taking the lead in the decisive moment: he earns three free throws on a foul by Simms with a minute on the clock, but after making only one he goes to crush the basket to make it 80-78 thanks to Renfro’s offensive rebound. Napoli’s last response attempts were extinguished by the ice in the veins of Carlos Stewart, who made all four free throws that ended the match.
Varese: Moore 24, Stewart 17, Nkamhoua 16
Napoli: Bolton 16, Flagg 13, Mitrou-Long 13