Italian League, Game 27: March 15-16, 2008
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Montepaschi Siena is virtual regular season champion of the Italian League after a 75-76 road win at Rieta lifted its record to 25-2. That gives Siena seven victories more than Lottomatica Roma or Montegranaro with seven games left to play. Vlado Ilievski paced Montepaschi with 20 points. With its fateful Top 16 game in the Euroleague a few days off, Lottomatica Roma defended its homecourt and its share of second place in the Italian League with a 80-70 victory against Armani Jeans Milano over the weekend. Roberto Gabini led the way for Roma with 19 points, including 13 in a row after Milano took a late lead. Montegranaro outlasted visiting Benetton Treviso 88-82 as Jobey Thomas led five double-figure scorers with 19 points. Fourth-place Avellino overwhelmed bottom-of-the-table Varese 99-75 as Devin Smith poured in 28 points. Fifth-place Cap d'Orlando did similarly in winning 84-84 over Scafati as Gianmarco Pozzecco had 19 points and Samuel Mejia 18. Upim Bologna forged a seventh-place tie with Scavolini Pesaro by defeating the latter 91-84 at home as Joseph Forte pumped in 21 points. Cantu held onto a three-way tie for ninth place when it beat visiting Napoli 73-64 on 18-point contributions from DaShaun Wood and Herve Toure, who also pulled 10 rebounds. Biella fell backwards in to that ninth-place tie with Cantu and Rieta by losing 100-98 to visiting Teramo, for whom Roger Powell scored 33 points and Giuseppe Poeta 6 of his 22 in the final minute. Snaidero Udine won the remaining game 80-76 over La Fortezza Bologna 80-76 to break their part of a tie near the end of the table. Jerome Allen had 15 points for Udine.
Montepaschi took a comfortable 11-point halftime lead, 37-48, on the road in Rieti, but had to scramble to win by a point. Rieti completed its comeback with a triple by Mario Gigena at 68-68 with just under 5 minutes left. Shaun Stonerook hit right back from the three-point arc for Montepaschi, but Rieti nonetheless went ahead on free throws early in teh final minute. The next 4 chances at the foul line went to Romain Sato and Ilievski, however, and they made sure of the go-ahead and insurance free throws as Montepaschi hung on for victory. Ilievski was followed in scoring by Hector Romero with 16 points and Sato with 10. Montepaschi played without center Kystof Lavrinovic and point guard Terrel McIntyre. Roma had a single-digit battle on its hands most of the night, but held off to beat Milano by 10 points anyway. After a 23-23 first-quarter tie, Ansu Sesay shot Milano ahead briefly before Roma took control again, using 7 points in a row by Ibby Jaaber and a buzzer-beating triple by Rodrigo De la Fuente to lead 45-39 at halftime. Milano rallied to within 50-48 in the third quarter before Alessandro Tonolli's triple gave Roma breathing room. Danilo Gallinari and Casey Shaw finally put Milano ahead 65-66 in the fourth quarter, but Gabini then exploded with all of Roma's points in a 13-1 run that decided the outcome.
Montegranaro got to the foul line all night and made its free throws pay in holding back visiting Benetton. A 26-18 start boded well for the hosts, but by halftime, Benetton had tied 45-45 thanks to good three-point shooting and the teams were locked at 66-64 after 30 minutes. Lionel Chalmers and Engin Atsur gave Benetton brief leads in the fourth quarter, but a 10-0 Montegranaro run midway through the quarter proved decisive. Sharrod Ford added 10 points and Ricky Minard 16 for the winners, while Chalmers had 17, Pops Mensah-Bonsu 16 for Benetton. Upim Bologna led early and often on the way to tying Pesaro for seventh-place. A 24-15 edge after one quarter reached 50-36 by halftime and 79-58 after three quarters as the hosts cruised upward in the standings. Forte hit 5 of 6 triples to lead the winnes in scoring, while Stefano Mancinelli and Horace Jenkins added 14 points each, while James Thomas had 10 and 13 rebounds.
LAST GAME GAME 27
March 15-16, 2008 | | Day | Match | Result | | Mar. 15 | Biella vs. Teramo | 98-100 | | Mar. 16 | Rieti vs. Montepaschi | 75-76 | | Mar. 16 | Snaidero vs. La Fortezza | 80-76 | | Mar. 16 | Lottomatica vs. AJ Milano | 80-70 | | Mar. 16 | Cantu vs. Eldo Napoli | 73-64 | | Mar. 16 | Air Avellino vs. Varese | 99-75 | | Mar. 16 | C. d'Orlando vs. L. Scafati | 94-84 | | Mar. 16 | Premiata vs. Benetton | 88-82 | | Mar. 16 | Upim Bologna vs. Scavolini | 91-84 |
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NEXT GAME GAME 28
March 22, 2008 | | Day | Match | | Mar. 22 | Benetton vs. Montepaschi | | Mar. 22 | L. Scafati vs. Biella | | Mar. 22 | Scavolini Spar vs. Varese | | Mar. 22 | Lottomatica vs. Cantu | | Mar. 22 | AJ Milano vs. Snaidero | | Mar. 22 | C. d'Orlando vs. Upim BO. | | Mar. 22 | Teramo vs. Air Avellino | | Mar. 22 | Eldo Napoli vs. Rieti | | Mar. 25 | La Fortezza vs. Premiata |
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| STANDINGS | TG | W | L | P+ | P- | | 1 | Montepaschi Siena | 27 | 25 | 2 | 2387 | 1901 | | 2 | Premiata Montegranaro | 27 | 18 | 9 | 2277 | 2152 | | 3 | Lottomatica Roma | 27 | 18 | 9 | 2140 | 1967 | | 4 | Air Avellino | 27 | 17 | 10 | 2287 | 2098 | | 5 | Pierrel Capo d'Orlando | 27 | 16 | 11 | 2364 | 2357 | | 6 | Armani Jeans Milano | 27 | 14 | 13 | 2109 | 2100 | | 7 | Upim Bologna | 27 | 14 | 13 | 2091 | 2120 | | 8 | Scavolini Spar Pesaro | 27 | 14 | 13 | 2168 | 2217 | | 9 | Tisettanta Cantù | 27 | 13 | 14 | 2164 | 2209 | | 10 | Solsonica Rieti | 27 | 13 | 14 | 2138 | 2166 | | 11 | Angelico Biella | 27 | 13 | 14 | 2181 | 2292 | | 12 | Siviglia Wear Teramo | 27 | 12 | 15 | 2275 | 2348 | | 13 | Snaidero Cucine Udine | 27 | 12 | 15 | 2035 | 2174 | | 14 | Benetton Treviso | 27 | 11 | 16 | 2078 | 2075 | | 15 | Eldo Napoli | 27 | 11 | 16 | 2120 | 2203 | | 16 | La Fortezza Bologna | 27 | 10 | 17 | 2128 | 2180 | | 17 | Legea Scafati | 27 | 7 | 20 | 2039 | 2214 | | 18 | Cimberio Varese | 27 | 5 | 22 | 2105 | 2313 |
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