Zizic boosted Efes's key runs
Ante Zizic became an unstoppable weapon for Anadolu Efes Istanbul on its way to a 19-point victory over Virtus Segafredo Bologna at Sinan Erden Sports Hall on Thursday night. The Croatian center not only finished as the game's top-scorer with 24 points -tying his career best- in only 17:51, but also provided Efes with the boost it needed in key moments of the game.
Zizic didn’t start, but when he took the floor, he had an immediate impact. He scored his first bucket late in the first period and collected 8 more points in a 13-2 spark early in the second to help Efes amass a double-digit lead for the first time in the game, 26-15.
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He remained under the radar in the third, but showed up again when Virtus threatened to come back to lead a 9-2 run that established a 60-38 entering the last stanza. And finally, when the visitors found Niccolo Mannion and Marco Belinelli on the perimeter, Zizic took over again to score 8 points in a row that definitely put the game to bed, 76-50, with 4 minutes to play.
"Twenty-four [points] seems nice, but tonight we did a great team effort. First half, second half, we stuck with the plan, we are on a mission”, he said after the game. "We are trying to win every single game and tonight it just broke out great. I started very good and my teammates and the coaching staff just saw that and they just kept up running plays for me."