Union Neuchâtel creates the feat and qualifies for the final. At the end of a new high-flying performance, Mitar Trivunovic’s men overcame Massagno 76-73 on Tuesday evening at La Riveraine, in front of 1,360 spectators. They thus won their semi-final series of the Swiss Basketball League play-offs 3-1. A great feat for the Neuchâtel team which will play the third championship final in its history after 2015 and 2016. The series for the title will be played on Saturday against Friborg Olympic, winner of the Geneva Lions in the other semi-final.
Tight duel at will
What suspense again, what a series too, what a match again from Union Neuchâtel! In a fiery atmosphere, the Unionists managed to thwart once again (for the third time in a row), the experienced and talented team from Ticino. Mitar Trivunovic’s men have never had a lead of more than eight points. But they never let themselves be overtaken by more than one unit. They delivered a full game from the first to the last second and we know the importance of the last seconds in basketball. Two words can sum up the victorious performance of the Unionists: intensity and defense. This is what Captain Bryan Colon also remembers.
Reading the scoreboard, we understand that this duel was close. At the break, Union Neuchâtel only led by one point. After tea, the proteges of Mitar Trivunovic did not relax their embrace. They were four points clear at the end of the third quarter. Five minutes later, when entering the “Money Time”, Les Unionistes were ahead of the Ticino by three points. Two minutes from the end, the equality was perfect. Cardiac refrain, take out your Coramine pills! The little ones (well little…) youngsters from Union Neuchâtel weren’t taken aback. They took the bottle. And under the impetus of the elders (Aleksa Popovic and Chad Timberlake), they inflicted a final slap on the Ticino, the one that hurts the most, at the end of an unbearable suspense.
Now it’s time for the final for the title on Saturday against the formidable Friborg Olympic team. /mne-jpp
Union Neuchâtel – Massagno 74-71 (21-17 15-18 19-16 21-22)
Salle de La Riveraine, 1,360 spectators
Arbitrators: Stojcev, Jeanmonod, Vitalini
Union Neuchâtel : Fofana (11 points), Morris (8), Granvorka (0), Colon (18), Martin (9), Popovic (10), Anabir (2), Timberlake (6), Giddens (12)
Massagno: Taylor (18 points), Williams (16), Baldasarre (1), Martino (3), D Mladjan (2), Nikolic (7), Kovac (3), M. Mladjan (11), James (12) .
Another result: Geneva Lions – Friborg Olympic 51-66. Friborg Olympic wins its series 3-1.