Season 49 Finals...Game 3...Seattle at San Jose

SEATTLE 69, SAN JOSE 68

WILD COMEBACK KEEPS STAMPEDE ALIVE

SAN JOSE -- Resembling all the chaotic madness of last year's storming of the U.S. Capitol by misguided vigilante anarchists, the Seattle Stampede denied the San Jose Fighting Amigos the MBA championship with a maniacal come-from-behind 69-68 Game 3 win.

The Championship Series now stands 2 games to 1, with San Jose still needing one more triumph to claim the Season 49 crown.

Down by 9 points with 23 ticks left in the contest, the Stampede began blocking shot after shot by San Jose until finally, with 2 left on the clock, AnDamian Wayne buried an unlikely trey to give them their first lead of the game. It was the only trey of the game by Wayne, who to that point, had missed his first 7 deep shots.

Wayne, along with center Carga Larga and forward Reed Lemur, were starting for the first time in the Finals for Seattle, as owner Tyler Masterson looked to shake things up after two decisive losses.

But it looked as though San Jose would be wearing the MBA crown after taking a 22-11 first-quarter lead. Pesky Seattle, however, had other ideas, hanging around until their defense came alive down the stretch; preventing 9 San Jose points in the fourth quarter alone to account for 19 points erased in the game. 

The comeback came without Seattle starters Potatoes O'Gratin and Carga Larga, who both fouled out. It was highlighted by a blocked 3-point bucket by Jesse Shershot, courtesy of Wolfie Gutenabend, followed by a blocked 2-point hoop from Ray Natuzzi at the hands of Wayne, which ended with a fast-break Gutenabend basket that cut the lead to 2 with 9 ticks left. 

San Jose's Muscle Shoals took a 3-pointer late that was also blocked, this time by Reed Lemur, which set up the Wayne game-winner. 

The final time unit was a denied 3-pointer by Wayne on a miss by Natuzzi.

Points prevented by quarters

Seattle...4...6...0...9  Total=19

S. Jose...8...0...2...2  Total=12

Tops in points prevented

1. Carga Larga, Seattle, 6

2. Lupalin Greenbeard, San Jose, 5

Retiring San Jose center SABADO GIGANTE came to life for the first time in the playoffs with a game-high 25-point effort on 11 of 17 shooting that included a whirlygig-like 8 slam dunks. The 6-9 Gigante also led everyone with 6 rebounds, adding 1 blocked shot. He was seemingly the only bucket-getter for San Jose late in the game.

Other 20-plus GVP performers

-- Although his opposite, Sabado Gigante, was POG, Seattle center Carga Larga came up with a game-high 6 points prevented, with 4 of those coming in the key fourth quarter. Before fouling out, Larga scored 15 points on 6 for 6 shooting, tied for team-high with 2 blocked shots and game-high with 2 steals, grabbing 2 boards in the process. 

-- Relegated to the bench this season after being the team MVP in Season 48, Seattle forward Reed Lemur got his first start of the campaign and came up aces for the victors. He dominated his man, Lupalin Greenbeard, scoring a team-high 18 points, tying for team-high in rebounds with 5, tying for team-high in blocked shots with 2, getting a steal and an assist.

-- He started the game like a house afire, scoring 12 first-quarter points to give his team a comfortable 11-point lead. But league MVP Jesse Shershot of San Jose could manage just 5 points the rest of the way for a total of 17. He added 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals (tied for game-high) to his GVP total.

Game Note: The 11 blocked shots by Seattle comes on the heels of the record-setting 15 swat-aways they had in their SemiFinals elimination game against Charleston.

NEXT UP: It's back to Seattle where Stampede fans hope their charges can pull off another upset.