Kharkiv Falcons defeated Dnipro 46 to 41 in the Ukrainian Basketball Superleague on Friday night. We had given Dnipro as the pick at 61 per cent confidence, but the match went another way. By then, the visitors had already shown they could hang with anyone.
The result leaves Dnipro still top of the table after 24 games with 22 wins and two defeats. Kharkiv Falcons sit second with 18 wins and six losses. The gap between them remains clear, but the margin feels narrower after this result.
Dnipro had won three straight before this game, beating Gozila 84 to 70 and Khmelnytskyi 83 to 67. Kharkiv Falcons, meanwhile, had lost four consecutive matches, including heavy defeats against Star Lutsk and Rivne. They came into this one with nothing to lose.
and here's the thing — the visitors bottled the end of their slump just when it mattered most. A 46 to 41 win away from home, against the best side in the league. They have opened talks about pushing for first place, though the table goes out of the window in these games.
The scoreline tells you everything you need to know. A tight contest decided in the final moments, with Kharkiv Falcons finding a way through the pressure. Dnipro will look at the two losses in their record and wonder if they can afford another.
