The Miners made it two from two at the Minerdome by staving off North West Tasmania 84-77 on Saturday.

This give the Wes Davidson Real Estate Miners a steady start of two victories from four games.

Getting over the top of Thunder was a must after losing to Albury-Wodonga in overtime on the road the previous night.

The fortunes of Ballarat and NW Tassie ebbed and flowed.

More than once the Miners looked well in control, only to see the visitors hit back.

There was no better example than the last quarter after import Drake Reed put Ballarat eight points up.

The Miners relaxed and an aggressive Thunder went on an uninterrupted run to level the scores with four minutes to play.

Suddenly there was a feeling of deja vu, with Albury-Wodonga having come from the same margin in the last quarter 24 hours earlier.

This time though, Ballarat remained calm and a triple to Matt Johnston helped seal the deal.

Without the concussed Jared Scoines, the Miners provided a solid all-round performance.

However, it was imports Jamal Brown and Reed who provided the best numbers.

In his first SEABL home appearance Reed, who was on the end of nine fouls, shot 36 points. The Miners needed Reed to produce and 12 points in the opening quarter enabled him to settle into his new surroundings and get the job done.

Brown also stepped up with added determination to dominate inside with 24 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.

Coach Guy Molloy said the Miners had learnt and benefited from the experience at Albury with a more disciplined approach.

Molloy said Reed had been an example of this, with him being completely out of sorts in his debut and then showing why the Miners had recruited him with a match-defining effort.

He said the home crowd factor had also come into play in the crucial last minutes when a basket either way could have changed the direction of the game.