BRATISLAVA, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- With the COVID-19 Omicron variant raging in Slovakia, teams in the Slovak basketball league (SBL) premiership are getting sidelined unexpectedly and the SBL is forced to improvise fixtures from various rounds based on which teams are able to compete. As a result, only four fixtures were able to take place since January 26.

Iskra Svit arrived in Spisska Nova Ves after losing the final match of the Slovak Cup to BKM Lucenec on Sunday and wanted to improve upon its mood, staying close to the home team right up until the final period. The Knights made good use of the opponent's foul-trouble and produced a superb 17-0 run, building a comfortable lead which enabled them to cruise to a 90-73 victory. The Serbian point guard Marko Stevanovic delivered a double-double performance for Spisska Vova Ves with 24 points and 17 assists.

Inter Bratislava was sidelined by COVID-19 for almost a month but the team from the capital city managed to stay in fifth place although it will have to find a substitution for its top player the Portorican Ivan Gandia-Rosa who had to quit the season due to a serious injury. BC Prievidza was coming to Bratislava on Wednesday after a win against Handlova and managed to keep up with Inter thanks to solid long-range shooting until the second half when the home team started to gain the advantage and built a 9-point lead going into the final outing.

The fourth quarter turned into a disaster for the bottom-ranked visitors, losing 67-94 in the end as Inter showed its hunger after the long pause. The home team's Lithuanian guard Dziugas Slavinskas led the score with 28 points, falling just one rebound short of a triple-double with 12 assists and 9 rebounds.

BC Prievidza's 101-93 victory in Handlova did not come easy on Saturday as both teams stayed neck and neck until the final moments of the fourth period of the traditional derby match between two former mining towns when Prievidza produced a 10-run, building a decisive lead. Not even Handlova's American guard DeAndre Abram and his whopping 32 points were able to stop the visitors from achieving the fourth victory this season.

On the previous Saturday, BC Prievidza got outscored by third-ranked BKM Lucenec 91-75. The visitors built a double-digit lead in the second period and held on to it until the final moments, expanding it a bit in the process. Enditem