Italian League playoffs, Quarterfinals, Game 1: May 16-17, 2007 Montepaschi Siena and Lottomatica Roma won big on Wednesday at the start of the Italian League playoffs. Joseph Forte scored 29 points as Montepaschi demolished Tisettanta Cantu 95-76 in Game 1 of the best-of-five quarterfinals. Roma bested Eldo Napoli 73-57 behind 18 points from David Hawkins and 15 from Dejan Bodiroga. Meanwhile, Armani Jeans Milano held off Whirlpool Varese for a 75-72 win. The hosts, who finished the regular season in second place with a 22-12 record, led by 11 early in the fourth quarter and a Kiwane Garris three-point play made it 72-63 with a minute-and-a-half to go, but Keith Carter and Aleksandar Capin jump-started Varese and Billy Keys narrowed the gap to a single point before Danilo Gallinari won the game for Milano from the line. Sven Schultze led Milano with 17 points and Gallinari added 15. Delonte Holland paced Varese with 25. In Thursday's game, Angelico Biella became the only team this season to start the quarterfinals with a road win by topping VidiVici Bologna 87-97. Erik Daniels and Reece Gaines scored 20 apiece and Jamel Thomas added 19 for Biella, while Dusan Vukcevic and Vlado Ilievski put up 18 each for Bologna. Montepaschi, which won the regular-season championship by a whopping eight wins, got 7 points from Romain Sato during a 14-0 first-quarter burst to take over early. The lead continued to grow, reaching 19 in the second quarter before settling at 49-35 at halftime. It then peaked at 23 in the fourth quarter as Siena coasted. Forte drilled five threes on his way to a season-high 29 points, Rimantas Kaukenas added 19 and Sato and Shaun Stonerook scored 11 each and grabbed 8 and 7 rebounds, respectively. Terrell McIntyre dished 6 assists for the winners. Lamayn Wilson led Cantu with 18 points and 10 rebounds and Nicolas Mazzarino added 17 in defeat. In Rome, Lottomatica turned the tables on Napoli after falling behind early. Eldo held Roma to 9 first-quarter points, but led by only 6 after 10 minutes. Roma then held Napoli to 9 second-quarter points, but scored 25 of his own to go up 34-24 at halftime. The hosts continued to pull away in the third quarter, going up by as many as 26 before it was all over. Hawkins and Bodiroga were Roma's top scorers, while Erazem Lorbek grabbed 7 rebounds as Roma won the battle of the boards 41-32. Tyrone Ellis led Napoli with 13. ITALIAN LEAGUE: Quarterfinal Playoffs, best of 5 games Record Team Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4 Game 5 1 Montepaschi Siena (1) 95 May 19 May 22 May 24* May 26* 0 Tisettanta Cantu (8) 76 - - - - 1 Lottomatica Roma (4) 73 May 19 May 22 May 24* May 26* 0 Eldo Napoli (5) 57 - - - - 1 Armani Jeans Milano (2) 75 May 19 May 22 May 24* May 26* 0 Whirlpool Varese (7) 72 - - - - 0 VidiVici Bologna (3) 87 May 19 May 22 May 24* May 26* 1 Angelico Biella (6) 97 - - - - Quarterfinal Playoffs Games Game 1 Montepaschi Siena vs. Tisettanta Cantu 95-76 May 16 Game 1 Armani Jeans Milano vs. Whirlpool Varese 75-72 May 16 Game 1 VidiVici Bologna vs. Angelico Biella 87-97 May 16 Game 1 Lottomatica Roma vs. Eldo Napoli 73-57 May 16 Game 2 Tisettanta Cantu vs. Montepaschi Siena - May 19 Game 2 Whirlpool Varese vs. Armani Jeans Milano - May 19 Game 2 Angelico Biella vs. VidiVici Bologna - May 19 Game 2 Eldo Napoli vs. Lottomatica Roma - May 19 Game 3 Montepaschi Siena vs. Tisettanta Cantu - May 22 Game 3 Armani Jeans Milano vs. Whirlpool Varese - May 22 Game 3 VidiVici Bologna vs. Angelico Biella - May 22 Game 3 Lottomatica Roma vs. Eldo Napoli - May 22 Game 4 Tisettanta Cantu vs. Montepaschi Siena - May 24* Game 4 Whirlpool Varese vs. Armani Jeans Milano - May 24* Game 4 Angelico Biella vs. VidiVici Bologna - May 24* Game 4 Eldo Napoli vs. Lottomatica Roma - May 24* Game 5 Montepaschi Siena vs. Tisettanta Cantu - May 26* Game 5 Armani Jeans Milano vs. Whirlpool Varese - May 26* Game 5 VidiVici Bologna vs. Angelico Biella - May 26* Game 5 Lottomatica Roma vs. Eldo Napoli - May 26* Thursday, May 17, 2007 Euroleague.net