The Czech Republic made partial amends for their narrow midweek defeat at Estonia by winning 71-65 at home against Hungary on Saturday night.

Center Petr Benda had 13 points and was one of five players to reach double-digits for the Czechs, whose victory has left all four teams in the Relegation Round with 1-1 records.

The stakes are extremely high because the top two sides will stay in Division A while the bottom two will drop into Division B.

The Hungarians hammered Ukraine in their opener and had designs on upsetting the Czechs on the road.

After trailing 22-11 early in the second quarter, the visitors surged back into a contention with Marton Fodor's basket capping a 9-0 burst.

They finally went into a 28-27 lead on a basket by Péter Lóránt.

Hungary went in front by three on two occasions but weren't able to add to the advantage.

Tamas Kaman's three-ball gave the Hungarians a 36-35 edge.

Neither side would take control in the third quarter, with Ádám Hanga's three-point play for Hungary knotting the game at 45-45.

The Czechs got their noses in front for good after a dunk by Pavel Pumprla and a lay-up from Pavel Slezak, but they had to sweat out a nervous finish.

Istvan Nemeth's two free-throws trimmed the Czech lead to 66-64 with 3:18 remaining, only for David Marek to reply with a lay-up and Hungary's Gergely Körtélyesi to turn the ball over.

The Czechs ended up staying in front and claiming victory.

Slezak finished with 12 points and Jan Vesely 11 while Ladislav Sokolovsky and Tomás Satoránský had 10 apiece.

The Czechs out-rebounded Hungary 47-33.

Nemeth scored 15 points and Lóránt 13 for Hungary.