Following Saturday night’s nail-biting loss to Albury Wodonga at the Minerdome on Saturday night, the round 14 fixture could not have been more important for Ballarat.  The loss at home had put the Miners’ east conference top four placing in jeopardy, meaning anything less than a win would see the Miners fall off the pace.

The Miners took to the floor with purpose in their second match for the weekend, developing a double-figure lead within the opening five minutes thanks to some sharp shooting from big man James Hunter.  

Eric Hayes’ men refused to take the foot off the pedal in the second quarter, extending their lead past 20 points.  Ollie Bailey was virtually unstoppable in the paint for the visitors, scoring a team-high 31 points on top of seven rebounds.  

A more composed Frankston side came out after the restart, as the Blues outscored the Miners over the 10 minutes.  Joshua Oswald and Bennie Lewis both started to find their range, however Ballarat maintained a comfortable 18 point advantage heading into the final quarter.

It looked as though the Miners would cruise through for the win in the opening stages of the final term as Bailey and Ash Constable hit the scoreboard early.  But Frankston’s Lewis took the game by the scruff of the neck to put the hosts within striking distance by scoring 12 points in four minutes.  

However the deficit would prove to be too great for the Blues, with the Miners returning to the winners list 108-97.  

Miners coach Eric Hayes said he was pleased with the way his charges bounced back from a tough loss.

“I think at times (on Saturday night) we made some bad decisions which cost us, but today we were making good decisions with the ball,” Hayes said.  

“We were focused on getting off to a really good start and we did, and we felt like we had them covered in most positions.”