NKA Pécs — Szolnoki Olajbanyasz: 70:74, NB I A

Szolnoki Olajbányász claimed victory over NKA Pécs 74-70 in the Hungarian Basketball Championship on Friday evening. The away side secured three points despite a spirited home performance from the hosts, who had been pushing through their own difficulties.

Szolnoki remain top of the table after 26 games, sitting on 23 wins and just three defeats. Pécs hold tenth place with ten victories and sixteen losses, the same number of matches played. The gap between them has not narrowed, if anything it widened slightly.

Recent form tells the story of two very different trajectories. Pécs came off a heavy 77-102 defeat against Atomérme Paks last week, while Szolnoki suffered a narrow 90-91 loss to Kaposvár. To be fair, both sides have shown vulnerability in their last outings, but the league table reflects a clear hierarchy.

And here's the thing — we had called this one. A Szolnoki victory at 55 per cent confidence, and they delivered. They came through again, managing to find a way to win when the match could have gone either way.

By then, Szolnoki had extended their grip on the summit. Pécs now face another tough task to climb out of the lower half, while the leaders keep moving ahead, one point at a time.