Italian League, Game 26: March 8-9, 2008
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Montepaschi Siena ahead atop the standings and kept a seven-game margin at 24-2 by beating La Fortezza Bologna 81-67 at home on Sunday. Vlado Ilievski and Drake Diener led the winners each with 16 points, Ksistof Lavrinovic added 14 while Alan Anderson led Virtus with 21 points. Lottomatica Roma moved up to 17-9 and ties for second place with Premiata Montegranaro by topping Air Avellino 64-72 on the road on Sunday behind 17 points from Erazem Lorbek. Armani Jeans Milano survived a wild one-man show by edging archrivals Cimberio Varese 85-90 on the road on Sunday. Danilo Gallinari paced the winners with 20 points on 8-for-8 free throws but Delonte Holland led Varese with as many as 50 points. Holland became the first player to break the 50-point barrier since November 1999. Benetton improved to 11-15 by downing Snaidero Udine 83-68 in Treviso on Saturday. Mario Austin led the winners with 24 points and 9 rebounds. Meanwhile, Upim Bologna dropped to 13-13 due to a 97-104 home loss against Angelico Biella. In other games, Scavolini Spar Pesaro beat Eldo Napoli 95-80, Pierrel Capo d'Orlando edged Siviglia Wear Teramo 91-97, Solsonica Rieti thrashed Legea Scafati 85-67 while Montegranaro topped Tisettanta Cantu 90-80.
Montepaschi Siena moved up to 24-2 and stayed atop the standing by beating La Fortezza Bologna 81-67 at home on Sunday. Ilievski and Diener led the winners each with 16 points. Lavrinovic added 14 while Romain Sato had 12 and 12 rebounds for Montepaschi. Alan Anderson led Virtus with 21 points but nobody else scored in double digits for the guests. Travis Best shined in a 5-11 opening run that allowed La Fortezza to keep a 15-17 edge after 10 minutes. A jumper by Donnie McGrath boosted the guests' lead to 21-27 but Lavrinovic and an outstanding Ilievski put Montepaschi back ahead, 41-38, at halftime. Ilievski joined forces with Ben Eze and Sato to give Montepaschi a double-digit lead, 57-47, after 30 minutes, and Virtus never recovered. Benetton improved to 11-15 by downing Snaidero Udine 83-68 in Treviso on Saturday. Austin led the winners with 24 points and 9 rebounds. Reece Gaines added 17 points, Marco Mordente had 13, Lionel Chalmers 11 and Matteo Soragna 10 for Benetton, that already led 21-12 after 10 minutes. Three-pointers by Gaines, Mordente, Soragna and Austin boosted the hosts' lead to 44-26 at halftime. Nothing changed in the second half, as Benetton kept a safe margin all the way until the final buzzer. Lottomatica Roma moved up to 17-9 by topping Air Avellino 64-72 on the road on Sunday behind 17 points from Lorbek. Roko Ukic added 13, Jon Stefansson and Rodrigo De La Fuente each had 11 while David Hawkins got 10 for Roma, that trailed 60-59 with 8 minutes to go. Stefansson and Lorbek stepped up and the guests' defense was enough for Roma to escape with a valuable road win.
Armani Jeans Milano took the Italian League superclassic by edging archrivals Cimberio Varese 85-90 on the road on Sunday. Gallinari paced the winners with 20 points on 8-for-8 free throws. Dusan Vukcevic added 19, Ansu Sesay had 16, Melvin Booker and Fabio Di Bella each got 10 while Travis Watson barely missed a double-double with 9 points and 16 rebounds. Holland had 50 points on 8-for-12 two-pointers and 10-for-19 three-pointers for Varese, including a triple to get Varese within 65-66 after 30 minutes. It all came down to the final minute, as Holland scored again for a 85-86 Varese deficit. Booker stepped up with 4-for-4 free throws to make Milano cruise to an important road win. Upim Bologna dropped to 13-13 due to a 97-104 home loss against Angelico Biella. Keith Langford led 5 Biella players in double digits with 20 points. Horace Jenkins led Fortitudo with 18 points, Stefano Mancinelli added 15, Joseph Forte had 13 while Oscar Torres and Alessandro Cittadini each got 10 for the hosts, that trailed 62-72 after 30 minutes. Jenkins and Cittadini brought Upim within 82-83 but a 2-13 run broke the game open and allowed Biella to seal the outcome.
LAST GAME GAME 26
March 8-9, 2008 | | Day | Match | Result | | Mar. 8 | Scavolini Spar vs.Eldo Napoli | 95-80 | | Mar. 8 | Benetton vs. Snaidero | 83-68 | | Mar. 9 | Montepaschi vs. La Fortezza | 81-67 | | Mar. 9 | Varese vs. AJ Milano | 85-90 | | Mar. 9 | Air Avellino vs. Lottomatica | 64-72 | | Mar. 9 | Upim Bologna vs. Biella | 97-104 | | Mar. 9 | Premiata vs. Cantu | 90-80 | | Mar. 9 | Rieti vs. L. Scafati | 85-67 | | Mar. 9 | Teramo vs. C. d'Orlando | 91-97 |
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NEXT GAME GAME 27
March 15-16, 2008 | | Day | Match | | Mar. 15 | Biella vs. Teramo | | Mar. 16 | Rieti vs. Montepaschi | | Mar. 16 | Snaidero vs. La Fortezza | | Mar. 16 | Lottomatica vs. AJ Milano | | Mar. 16 | Cantu vs. Eldo Napoli | | Mar. 16 | Air Avellino vs. Varese | | Mar. 16 | C. d'Orlando vs. L. Scafati | | Mar. 16 | Premiata vs. Benetton | | Mar. 16 | Upim Bologna vs. Scavolini |
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| STANDINGS | TG | W | L | P+ | P- | | 1 | Montepaschi Siena | 26 | 24 | 2 | 2311 | 1826 | | 2 | Premiata Montegranaro | 26 | 17 | 9 | 2189 | 2070 | | 3 | Lottomatica Roma | 26 | 17 | 9 | 2060 | 1897 | | 4 | Air Avellino | 26 | 16 | 10 | 2188 | 2023 | | 5 | Pierrel Capo d'Orlando | 26 | 15 | 11 | 2270 | 2273 | | 6 | Armani Jeans Milano | 26 | 14 | 12 | 2039 | 2020 | | 7 | Scavolini Spar Pesaro | 26 | 14 | 12 | 2084 | 2126 | | 8 | Solsonica Rieti | 26 | 13 | 13 | 2063 | 2090 | | 9 | Angelico Biella | 26 | 13 | 13 | 2083 | 2192 | | 10 | Upim Bologna | 26 | 13 | 13 | 2000 | 2036 | | 11 | Tisettanta Cantù | 26 | 12 | 14 | 2091 | 2145 | | 12 | Siviglia Wear Teramo | 26 | 11 | 15 | 2175 | 2250 | | 13 | Eldo Napoli | 26 | 11 | 15 | 2056 | 2130 | | 14 | Benetton Treviso | 26 | 11 | 15 | 1996 | 1987 | | 15 | Snaidero Cucine Udine | 26 | 11 | 15 | 1955 | 2098 | | 16 | La Fortezza Bologna | 26 | 10 | 16 | 2052 | 2100 | | 17 | Legea Scafati | 26 | 7 | 19 | 1955 | 2120 | | 18 | Cimberio Varese | 26 | 5 | 21 | 2030 | 2214 |
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