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Neanderthals preferred close-quarters combat with their prey, using spears to stab at vital parts of an animal to bring it down, while Homo sapiens were thought to use throwing spears instead.

To each his own. Neanderthals were more heavily built, so they could have handled grappling with big critters better than homo sapiens could, so they might be able to bring down bigger prey. But then, since H. sapiens prefers ranged hunting (with throwing spears and the like), they would be able to sneak up on their quarry and hit them in a stealthy fashion. In a situation where they are hunting a herd of animals, this might hold some advantages, since a group of hunters could each focus on his own target, as opposed to the Neanderthal technique of attacking a single animal at close range in a coordinated group. Homo sapiens might score more food for their effort.

Or, they could toss their spears, miss, or only slightly wound their target, and then get mauled by whatever they were hunting. Since H. sapiens were better at long-range attacks, they were not as skilled as a Neanderthal would be when faced with an angry, charging animal. Plus, they would have already tossed their weapon, meaning they had better have an extra in reserve.

There are pros and cons for both species. Until we build ourselves a time machine, we'll just have to guess which method was more effective. Or maybe, as this article states, their hunting success was roughly equal, despite their different methods.

I doubt the H-S were throwing spears. More likely rocks, from slings. There are tons of rocks found that are clearly modified, that for years have been called "hand axes" and thought of as hand tools, when that makes no sense given where they are found and in what numbers. (Huge accumulations in watering holes etc). But as large slingstones they make perfect sense. (Single underhand motion, not whirled over the head - the usual reason given for dismissing that role). A dozen men might toss 50 softball sized, edge-sharpened rocks in 1-2 minutes, and seriously wound large prey that way.