Union Neuchâtel misses its meeting. For its return in front of its audience, Mitar Trivunovic’s troupe lost the duel for third place in the Swiss Basketball League against Pully Lausanne. A scathing 93-71 defeat this Saturday at Riveraine. After a three-week break, due to the international break, Union Neuchâtel suffered a third setback in a row. A defeat which allowed the Vaudois to climb onto the podium to relegate Union to fourth place at the end of the first round of the championship. For Thomas Salman, the disappointment was great at the end of the meeting. “I have the impression that we weren’t in the rhythm since the start of the match,” regrets the Unionist. “They put pressure on us over the 40 minutes and we couldn’t respond to that. »
A fatal second quarter
Union Neuchâtel started the game well, finishing in the lead by one point (17-16) in the first quarter. But in the second period, it’s a collapse. “We suffered a little more from the Lausanne defense and after that it skewed the whole match a little,” explains Kevin Martina. For the Swiss international, Union was sometimes naive and lost too many balls. Combined with a lack of success and without solutions against the good defense of Pully Lausanne, Mitar Trivunovic’s men let their opponent slip away. While the scoreboard was twelve points behind at half-time (45-33), the Neuchâtelois were unable to react and fell behind by up to 26 points (63-37 in the third period).
Union Neuchâtel therefore finished this first round of the Swiss Basketball League championship in fourth place. Mitar Trivunovic’s men will have to face Monthey-Chablais, currently fifth, to secure their place for the Final Four of the SBL Cup which will be played on January 25 and 26. A Valais team that Union already finds on Wednesday December 4 at the Riveraine for the first meeting of the second round of the championship. /lgn
