Italian League Finals, Game 8: June 8, 2008
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Montepaschi Siena moved within a victory of a second consecutive Italian League title with a stirring comeback to win 72-80 on the road against Lottomatica Roma in Game 3 of the playoff finals on Sunday. Siena trailed by 20 points late in the second quarter, but turned the tables on Roma after halftime to take a commanding 3-0 advantage in their best-of-seven series. Shaun Stonerook's 3 three-point shots in a 2-15 run to start the third quarter put Montepaschi ahead 40-41, erasing what had been a 34-14 Roma advantage just minutes previously. Stonerook led the winners with 17 points, 6 rebounds 4 assists and 3 steals. Rimantas Kaukenas added 13 points, Ben Eze 12 and 5 steals, while Bootsy Thornton and Ksistof Lavrinovic had 10 points each. Roma got 14 points from Roko-Leni Ukic, 12 from Ibrahim Jaaber and 10 each from Erazem Lorbek and David Hawkins. Game 4, in which Siena can become just the third repeat champion of Italy in the last 20 years, will be played in Rome on Tuesday.
Lorbek and Roberti Gabini sent the hosts ahead 7-2 and Hawkins soon joined them in scoring. Roma's defense kept Montepaschi without a basket for the last 5 minutes of the first quarter, at which time Jaaber's three-point shot capped a 16-2 run with a 26-10 score after 10 minutes. Incredibly enough, Siena continued scoring only with free throws, going a total of nearly 12 minutes without a basket as Roma's lead reached a high of 34-14. Eze finaly broke the drought for Siena with a hook shot that awoke his teammates. Terrell McIntyre and Romain Sato filled a 0-7 run that allowed Siena to cut the difference to 38-26 at halftime. In the third quarter, it was the turn of Siena's defense to take over as Stonerook buried 3 three-point shots in 4 minutes during a 2-15 run that vaulted the guests ahead by 40-41. Triples by Rodrigo De la Fuente and Jon Stefansson kept Roma afloat at 46-45 after three quarters, but Siena was just heating up. Lavrinovic opened the fourth from downtown, and was followed shortly with 2 more strikes from the arc by teammate Kaukenas as Siena blew the game open at 47-56. Lavrinovic soon followed another Stonerook triple with an inside basket for their team's biggest lead, 54-68, as Siena cruised to the finish and within one more victory of repeating as Italian champions.
| Finals Playoffs, best of 7 games |
| Record | Team | Game 1 | G. 2 | G. 3 | G. 4 | G. 5 | G. 6 | G. 7 | | 3 | Montepaschi (1) | 85 | 85 | 80 | June10 | *June12 | *June14 | *June16 | | 0 | Lottomatica (2) | 73 | 82 | 72 | - | - | - | - |
| Finals games | | Game 1 | Montepaschi Siena vs. Lottomatica Roma | 85-73 | June 3 | | Game 2 | Montepaschi Siena vs. Lottomatica Roma | 85-82 | June 5 | | Game 3 | Lottomatica Roma vs. Montepaschi Siena | 72-80 | June 8 | | Game 4 | Lottomatica Roma vs. Montepaschi Siena | - | June 10 | | Game 5 | Montepaschi Siena vs. Lottomatica Roma | - | *June 12 | | Game 6 | Lottomatica Roma vs. Montepaschi Siena | - | *June 14 | | Game 7 | Montepaschi Siena vs. Lottomatica Roma | - | *June 16 |
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