the essentials Third defeat in a row for the Unionists and first at home in this 2nd phase, against Avignon: 86 to 94.
The heavyweights will be able to find excuses in the refereeing which was, at times, not really up to par last night. But to explain this third setback in as many matches in this second phase it will undoubtedly be necessary to understand how the Union was able to explode in full flight in the middle of the third quarter. Because until then, the Unionists were sticking to their opponent’s shorts. Almost all the time behind, Stéphane Dao’s men spent their time yo-yoing.
From the start of the match, the Avignonnais took the lead thanks to Cayol (6-10.4th). If Marius Chambre puts his team in front with a winning basket (15-14, 7th), the Bigourdans will turn behind at the end of the first ten minutes (21-27), the fault in particular of six consecutive points from Hernandez.
The second quarter will be a carbon copy of the first: Tarbo-heavy players who fight to come back but visitors who score the right basket each time. Pharose first (26-29, 13th) then Queta (31-35, 16th) will try to get closer. In vain.
At halftime Jonathan Boucaud’s teammates were still six points behind after a three-point basket from Jolly nine seconds from the buzzer (45-51).
At Kovanusic’s masterclass
And then comes the third quarter. The famous ten minutes during which the Unionists will completely explode. The fault of one man: the pivot Nemanja Kovanusic. The Serb will string together the three points, the baskets with the foul to display all his palette against an often apathetic defense of the Union.
Faced with the wave from Eastern Europe, the Tarbo-heavy people will not find the solutions and are up to 23 points behind (49-72, 26th) after a basket from the untenable Kovanusic.
With such an outlay and 15 minutes to play, the mission turned out to be complicated, it will ultimately be impossible despite an awakening in the last quarter driven by good defense and the race in transition like Pharose (66-77 , 33rd) or Boucaud (72-77, 34th).
But the gap was too big and at the end of the match punctuated by the repeated whistles from the referees, the Union would never come back.
Friday evening in Lourdes, the second phase began to resemble a long station of the cross.
Union Tarbes-Lourdes 86-Avignon-le-Portet 94
QT : 21-27, 24-24, 16-24, 25-19
Judges: M. Malphettes and Mme Marangoni.
UNION : 31 successful shots out of 62 (including 10/31 at three points); 14 of 21 successful free throws; 37 rebounds; 25 assists; 18 lost bullets; 9 interceptions; 3 blocks; 23 personal fouls.
Dots : Chambre (14), Boucaud (cap.) (14), Yangue Tankeu (15), Ateba (5), Queta (6); (then) Pharose (19), Cece (5), Coudray (2), Badiane (6), Atipa (-).
Coach: Stéphane Dao.
AVIGNON-LE-PORTET: 32 successful shots out of 70 (including 13/33 three-pointers); 17 successful free throws out of 25; 37 rebounds; 24 assists; 15 lost balls; 14 interceptions; 2 blocks; 17 personal fouls.
Dots : Cayol (13), Rasolonjatovo (12), Hernandez (13), Bourcier (cap.) (10), Kovanusic (28), then Lenoir (0), Jolly (6), Pothion (12).
Coach: Alex Casimiri.
2024-03-15 21:55:29
#Basketball #N1M #Alex #Casimiri #effective #Union #victory #Avignonnais
