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Princeton University Athletics
Rocca's Italian League Team Advances to Final
June 11, 2010 | Men's Basketball
While the Boston Celtics, with Armond Hill '85 as an assistant coach, battle the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, Mason Rocca '00 and his Armani Jeans Milano team are off to the Italian Serie A final with a 65-59 win over Pepsi Caserta Thursday night, taking the best-of-five series.
Armani Jeans Milano will advance to face Montepaschi Siena in the best-of-seven final beginning Sunday, June 13. A schedule and scores from the final series will be updated on the Legabasket page here.
In helping his team advance, Rocca set an Italian league record for offensive rebounds in a semifinal series with 24, breaking the previous mark of 19 set in 1995. On the season, Rocca is averaging 10.1 points per game and a team-best 8.1 rebounds per game.
Rocca, who played in two NCAA Tournaments and an NIT, winning three postseason games to go with two Ivy League titles, was a teammate of both current head coach Sydney Johnson '97 and current assistant coach Brian Earl '99. Johnson's last team during his seven-season European career was Montepaschi Siena, which he helped to a league championship in 2004.
The highlight video from the last semifinal game features Rocca at approximately 0:45, 1:05 and 1:30.