Maccabi comes back to beat Montepaschi, goes to final

The Maccabi fans were happiest after the game

02-05-2008 21:52

Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv completed one of the greatest comebacks in Final Four history to defeat Montepaschi Siena 85-92 and advance to the Euroleague Basketball title game for the fourth time in five seasons on Friday at the Community of Madrid Sports Palace in the Spanish Capital. Maccabi trailed by as many as 18 in the second period, but stormed back with a 0-13 charge bridging the third and fourth periods to take the lead.

Spirited play from Alex Garcia and team captain Derrick Sharp, who both scored season-highs off the bench, led an effort of 68 bench points. Montepaschi had only 25 points from its bench. Maccabi will face the winner of Friday’s second semifinal between CSKA Moscow and Tau Ceramica in Sunday’s final. The Israeli champs defeated Tau in the 2005 final and lost to CSKA in the 2006 final.

Garcia paced Maccabi with 19 points, Sharp scored 15, Will Bynum finished with 13 points and 7 assists, Terence Morris had 13 points and 7 rebounds and David Bluthenthal added 11, including the go-ahead three-pointer early in the fourth quarter. Terrell McIntyre had a game-high 26 points and 5 assists in defeat. Romain Sato posted 17 points and 11 boards for Montepaschi, Ksistof Lavrinovic also scored 17 and Bootsy Thornton 10.

FULL STATS OF THE MONTEPASCHI - MACCABI GAME

INDIVIDUAL STATS OF MONTEPASCHI SIENA

INDIVIDUAL STATS OF MACCABI ELITE TEL AVIV

INDIVIDUAL STATS OF THE EUROLEAGUE COMPETITION

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