The Miners bounced back after some late tactical errors threatened to bring all their good work unstuck to bring up their seventh win of the season 84-77.

Ballarat coach Guy Molloy said the benefit of being full-time athletes was significant, with AIS adopting plays and having disciplines that part-time SEABL rosters did not have the scope to fine tune with the same precision.

More than once the Wes Davidson Real Estate Miners appeared to have done enough to have the game in their keeping, only to see AIS steam back into contention.

The most decisive of these drives came in the last two minutes.

Having been down by five early in the last quarter, the Miners had eased out to a seven-point lead.

When an off-balance Jason Cadee sunk a three-pointer with 49.1 seconds remaining, it was back to two points.

With AIS applying a full court press to create some indecision among the Miners, it took an equally impressive triple by Tariq Naqqash to again give the Miners some breathing space.

That was to be sealer.

Molloy admitted some players had "messed up" under pressure from AIS in the dying minutes, but ultimately for him the win was what counted and he was satisfied with the application of his players.

Molloy paid credit to the defensive side of Ballarat's performance in front of one of the biggest home crowds of the season.

He said the Miners had been slow to get going, but the third quarter, when AIS scored only 13 points, was just what they needed.

Ryan Barnes, who went into the game under a cloud with a knee injury, made it through and put in a significant performance with seven rebounds as the Miners dominated the boards.

Naqqash was a spark with 18 points, including three three-pointers.

Dan Joyce also stepped up with one of his biggest offensive efforts, scoring 19 points and having four assists in an influential role.