May 24, 2012
Italian League Semifinals, Game 3: June 5-6, 2007
Rimantas Kaukenas - Montepaschi Siena (photo: Mens Sana Basket) Montepaschi Siena needed three overtimes to down Lottomatica Roma 114-108 in Game 3 at home on Tuesday, in one of the best games ever seen in the Italian League. Montepaschi leads the best-of-five semifinal series 2-1 but Roma hosts Game 4 on Thursday. Joseph Forte led 6 Montepaschi players in double digits with 22 points. Terrell Lyday added 20 points, Romain Sato had 16, Rimantas Kaukenas 15, Shaun Stonerook 14 and Marco Carrareto 10. Ognjen Askrabic had 26 points for Roma, Dejan Bodiroga added 23, David Hawkins 16 and Erazem Lorbek 14 for the guests, that outrebounded their opponents by 42-56. Meanwhile, VidiVici Bologna got a 1-2 lead in its semifinal series by edging Armani Jeans 73-80 in Milano in Game 3 on Wednesday. Milano still leads the series 2-1 but Virtus hosts Game 4 on Friday. Brett Blizzard led Virtus with 14 points while Fabio Di Bella, Christian Drejer and Vlado Ilievski each added 12 for the winners. Joseph Blair had 13 points for Milano while Danilo Gallinari added 11.

There are no words words to describe the excitement in Siena on Tuesday night. The game saw as many as 5 lead changes in the fourth quarter before Forte dunked it for a 82-82 tie already in the final seconds. Lorbek scored inside for Roma but Kaukenas immediately answered to take the game to overtime, 84-84. The game seemed to be over when Stonerook hit free throws for a 84-87 Siena lead after 44 minutes. Bodiroga followed free throws with a critical triple, and even when Carratero hit 1 of 2 free throws for a 95-92 edge, Bodiroga copied him and them collected a steal that forced a second overtime, 95-95, as fans could not believe their eyes. The best was yet to come, however, as Alessandro Tonolli gave Roma a 99-101 edge late in the second overtime. Ben Eze provided a highlight with a wild put-back dunk that tied again, 101-101, and a desperation three-point shot by Alex Righetti did not go in. Once in the third overtime, Tonolli got Roma within 109-108. Forte sealed the outcome with a layup-plus-foul while McIntyre added free throws to make all Siena fans celebrate a historical win. Montepaschi had not played a triple-overtime game since 1979.

Milano had a strong start that allowed the hosts to get a 22-20 edge after 10 minutes. Drejer and Andrea Crosariol shined late in the second quarter to give Virtus a 37-40. The guests led all the way since that moment, as even when a jumper by Massimo Bulleri got Milano within 43-44, Oscar Gugliotta and Blizzard stroke from downtown in a 1-9 run that helped VidiVici to make it an 11-point game, 46-57, after 30 minutes. Travis Best and Di Bella combined for 7 points in a 0-9 rin that broke the game open, 48-66, early in the final period. Milano did not give up and managed to ge within 63-71 with 3 minutes to go. Di Bella and Best stepped up in crunch time to make Virtus avoid troubles all the way until the final buzzer.

ITALIAN LEAGUE: Semifinal Playoffs, best of 5 games
RecordTeam
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3
Game 4
Game 5
2
Montepaschi Siena (1)
74
84
114
June 7
June 9*
1
Lottomatica Roma (4)
88
76
108
-
-
1
Armani Jeans Milano (2)
71
81
73
June 8
June 10*
2
VidiVici Bologna (3)
75
78
80
-
-

Semifinal Playoffs Games
Game 1
Montepaschi Siena vs. Lottomatica Roma
74-88
May 30
Game 1
Armani Jeans Milano vs. VidiVici Bologna
71-75
May 30
Game 2
Lottomatica Roma vs. Montepaschi Siena
76-84
June 2
Game 2
VidiVici Bologna vs. Armani Jeans Milano
78-81
June 3
Game 3
Montepaschi Siena vs. Lottomatica Roma
114-108
June 5
Game 3
Armani Jeans Milano vs. VidiVici Bologna
73-80
June 6
Game 4
Lottomatica Roma vs. Montepaschi Siena
-
June 7
Game 4
VidiVici Bologna vs. Armani Jeans Milano
-
June 8
Game 5
Montepaschi Siena vs. Lottomatica Roma
-
June 9*
Game 5
Armani Jeans Milano vs. VidiVici Bologna
-
June 10*
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
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