Article by David Istrate – Published on Sunday, 19 April 2026 23:11 / Updated on Sunday, 19 April 2026 23:13
The National Men's Basketball League regular season ended on Saturday, April 18, and both the playoff and play-out standings were in. CSM Oradea won this first phase of the competition, but the first position in the ranking on the basis of which the duels in the elimination phase were decided was occupied by U-BT Cluj-Napoca, a group that will enter directly into the playoffs.
The regular season of the National League ended this weekend, and the teams qualified for the playoffs are U-BT Cluj-Napoca, CSM CSU Oradea, CS Dinamo Bucharest, CSO Voluntari, SCM U Craiova, CS Rapid Bucharest, FC Argeș Basketball and CSU Sibiu.
FC Argeș Basketball and CSU Sibiu, the last qualified teams in the National League playoffs
The suspense was maintained until the 30th stage of the championship, when CSU Sibiu and FC Argeș Basketball managed to secure their places in the playoffs of the competition. The white-violets lost, at home, to CSM Târgu Mureș, score 95-98, after another match with overtime.
The Transylvanians finally came back from -6 and got the victory again Michaelyn Scott was close to a triple-double: 22 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds, +30 efficiency. Therefore, the American is the MVP of the last round of the LNBM regular season.
Despite the defeat, FC Argeș Basketball benefited from the results game and qualified for the playoffs. CSU Sibiu won 89-78 on the road, against CSM Corona Brașov, and thus reached a record of 16 wins and 12 losses.
The leader of Dan Fleșeriu's team was Keith Stone, with 19 points, 13 rebounds and +29 efficiency. After the defeat of SCM Timișoara in Bucharest, against Rapid, score 89-93, CSU Sibiu became the last qualified team in the playoffs.
CS Vâlcea 1924, a group that invested enormously this season and won the bronze medals in the 2024-2025 season, missed the playoffs, being defeated by Dinamo Bucharest in the last round: 81-88.
The results of the last round of the National League
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CSM CSU Oradea vs. CSM Galați: 99-70
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FC Arges Basketball vs. CSM Târgu Mureș: 95-98
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CSM Petrolul Ploiești vs. SCM U Craiova: 88-105
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CS Rapid Bucharest vs. SCM Timișoara: 93-89
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CSM Corona Brașov vs. CSU Sibiu: 78-89
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CSO Volunteers vs. CSA Steaua Bucharest: 89-76
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CS Vâlcea 1924 vs. CS Dinamo Bucharest: 81-88
National League standings at the end of the regular season
National League standings, at the end of the regular season/Photo: frbaschet.ro capture
National League playoff standings
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CSU Sibiu vs. U-BT Cluj-Napoca
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CSM CSU Oradea vs. FC Arges Basketball
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CS Dinamo Bucharest vs. CS Rapid Bucharest
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CSO Volunteers vs. SCM U Craiova
Having played in both the EuroCup and the Adriatic League, U-BT Cluj-Napoca requested and received approval to enter the LNBM directly from the playoffs. The defending champion was assigned first place, to pair with the 8th-place team, but will not have home court advantage in any series she will play.
The “quarters”, semi-finals and finals are played on a “best of 5 matches” basis. The schedule for the first round of the playoffs is as follows:
National League play-out table
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SCM Timisoara vs. CSM Galati
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CS Vâlcea 1924 vs. CSM Târgu Jiu
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CSM Târgu Mureș vs. CSM Petrolul Ploiesti
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CSA Steaua Bucharest vs. CSM Corona Brașov
The first round of the play-out will have the same schedule and will also be played in the “best of 5 matches” system.
