The American guard had 15 of his 26 points in the last period
Isaiah Canaan late offensive explosion revitalized Crvena Zvezda in Bologna
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Regular Season
Round 14 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Things didn’t look very good for Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade when it trailed 75-65 against Virtus Segafredo Bologna in Italy with just 6:38 minutes to play in the fourth quarter. Despite having enjoyed short advantages for the most part of the game, the Serbian side had lost control of the game and the home team seemed poised to end its five-game losing skid.
"You have to play on a high level, you cannot have empty minutes, like we had in a third quarter when we allowed Virtus to go up by 10," recognized Zvezda big man Luka Mitrovic, who finished with 21 points and 6 rebounds. "But the good thing is that we didn't lose our head in those moments."
The visitors managed to regroup after a timeout, with Mitrovic being an active part of a play that allowed Zvezda to shift momentum and start its rally. He took advantage of a pass from Yago dos Santos to score and get a foul. Even though he couldn’t convert the free throw, Isaiah Canaan grabbed the offensive rebound and enabled Dos Santos to make another three-point play that brought the Serbian outfit back into the game.
"It was a big rebound, you know, just to give us another chance and that's the area we got to continue to improve, getting rebounds," stated Canaan right after the game. "We tried to do a better job of that tonight. We got the ones that mattered, and we made the shots that mattered."
Many of those shots that mattered for Zvezda came from the hands of Canaan, who finished with 26 points and was the game’s top scorer. He delivered only in the second and the fourth periods, scoring 11 in the second and 15 in the final frame.
He did contribute on offense when the game was on the line, bringing 5 points right after the 5-point play, then he tied it at 80-80 from behind the arc before later feeding Filip Petrusev in the corner for a three that gave his team the lead for good, 82-83.
"We didn't lose our head in those moments," reaffirmed Mitrovc. "We started to play better defense, and we found good solutions on offense. We found. Isaiah [Canaan] – he hit some big, big shots."
Thanks to Canaan’s 15 points in the last period, Zvezda completed a fantastic fourth quarter in which it outscored Virtus 24-37. In fact, 29 of those came in the last 6:38 of the game against Virtus’s 12.
"It was a team victory," celebrated Canaan. "We needed this win. We're going to keep building. Every game is a test for us, and we’ve got to continue to stay together. Tonight was a team victory."