Coming off the disappointment of a 10-point loss to Mt Gambier in front of a home crowd on Saturday night, the RetireInvest Ballarat Miners turned around their fortunes on the road by dispensing with Nunawading 96-82.

Defence was the difference.

The Miners were defensively vulnerable against the Pioneers, giving up control of the encounter in the second half.

They struggled to cope with the power and height of Dean Rice and Jason Sedlock, and all too often left the door open for Dallas Jeffree and surprise packet Tari Naqqash to snare easy baskets.

It was complete turnaround yesterday in the face of an equally big outfit in the Spectres.

"We were a different team," said Miners coach Shane Mathison. "It was simply about defence today.

"They ran at us and hit us hard (Nunawading led by nine points within five minutes), but we were able to adjust."

Recruit Rishawn Norwood and tireless centre Jamal Brown led Ballarat offensively over the two games.

The Miners promised Norwood was an excitement machine, and he lived up to the billing.

His first three baskets were three-pointers as Ballarat jumped away to an eight-point lead over Mt Gambier.

Norwood shot a game-high 33 points, despite struggling with cramp, capping his night off with six three-pointers.

And he continued on his way yesterday with another 24 points, including five triples.

Brown was equally damaging with 24 and 32 points.

In a potential SEABL player of the week performance, Brown also snared 18 rebounds yesterday.

Newcomer in Zac Carter was another shining light who, with Adam McSwain and Phil Benn, will be consistently called on to give key support to Brown against physically stronger teams.