Maccabi Tel Aviv downed ASVEL Villeurbanne 94-73 to clinch a spot in the Euroleague postseason thanks to a tremendous performance by an unstoppable Ante Zizic.

Avi Even’s squad got off to a slow start but Scottie Wilbekin made sure to keep his side in front after the opening frame while Zizic began to get to work in the second quarter to send Maccabi into halftime up 42-37.

Villeurbanne tried to make a move early on in the second half but Keenan Evans, James Nunnally, Wilbekin and most of all Zizic started scoring at will throughout the second half while Jalen Reynolds put the finishing touches as the fourth quarter wound down to send Maccabi into the postseason with two games to spare.

Zizic matched his career high with 24 points, Nunnally added 16 points, Reynolds put in 15 points and Wilbekin scored 14 points in the win. Charles Kahudi led ASVEL with 12 points and Kostas Antetokounmpo scored 10 points in the loss.

“They are a good team, a very talented team,” Avi Even began. “It took us time to get into the flow of the game, but we made it in the third and the fourth quarter and I’m happy with that.”

“You can’t expect to win the game with 27 turnovers, it’s way too much against Maccabi,” Villeurbanne coach TJ Parker explained. “Even with that, we were still only down by 6 points, with 6 minutes left. But they went on a good run, and we could not come back.”

Game MVP Ante Zizic reflected on the importance of the win, “It was a huge win for us tonight. This win put us in a spot where we wanted to be. Recently we have been enjoying playing and that showed on the court. It was amazing, in front of our fans. I feel like we were unstoppable.”

Chris Jones got to work early for Villeurbanne against his former club with a layup and 3-pointer, while James Gist and David Lighty added points but Scottie Wilbekin hit a deuce and a triple over Victor Wembanyama for Maccabi Tel Aviv, however, the visitors held a 9-7 lead midway through the first quarter. Wembanyama put down a dunk off a full court pass, Elie Okobo scored in the paint, Jalen Reynolds responded, Wilbekin went from deep, Iftach Ziv snatched a rebound off a Jake Cohen free throw and scored while Antoine Diot dialled up long distance but Khyri Thomas scored a bucket to give the hosts a 21-18 lead after ten minutes of play.

Reynolds got the second quarter underway with a dunk, William Howard went from downtown, Charles Kahudi scored a layup and Kostas Antetokounmpo to give TJ Parker’s team a 27-23 lead with 6:51 left in the first half. Ante Zizic got a quick 2-points, Kahudi and Jones answered right back, James Nunnally hit back to back triples, Wembanyama added a basket, Ante Zizic scored in the paint and John DiBartolomeo nailed a 3-pointer to give Maccabi. 42-37 advantage at halftime.

Jones hit a jumper to begin the third quarter while Zizic responded with a pair of 3-point plays, Evans added a reverse layup and Nunnally went from deep to bump the lead up to 56-47 Monday’s through the period. Zizic put down a dunk off a Wilbekin back pass, Evans added a deuce, Zizic scored again, Howard hit back to back corner 3-balls, Youssoupha Fall put in points, but Evans scored a 3-point play, Wilbekin scored as the shot clock ran down as Avi Even’s squad took a 70-58 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Matthew Strazel and Kahudi went from downtown to open up the fourth quarter, Antetokounmpo added a bucket but Nunnally scored from downtown and Evans put in a fastbreak layup to keep Maccabi in front 77-66 with 6:29 remaining in regulation time. Wilbekin put down an alleyoop dunk off an Evans pass, Zizic put in more points as did Reynolds who kept pouring in the points as time wound down to seal the 21-point win.