CEO of Basketball Ballarat Peter Eddy has described the Ballarat Miner's 126-63 victory against the the Albury-Wodonga Bandits as one of the biggest in club history.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Miners thrashed the third-placed Bandits on Saturday to remain undefeated in the inaugural NBL1 men's competition.
Eddy told The Courier the 63-point margin was among the most significant ever since 10-minute quarters were introduced into the Australian professional ranks.
"When you consider both the score and what we were able to restrict them to in terms of our defensive effort, I think it would be one of the biggest winning margins of all-time," he said.
"It's one of the biggest, recognising the fact that we've gone from a 48-minute game size to a 40-minute game size in recent years."
The win cements the Miners in first place atop the NBL1 ladder with an unblemished five wins from five matches. Eddy was unable to confirm when the Miners last won their opening five games but guessed it was likely about 2001.
He said the current Miners outfit was probably one of the strongest in recent years, which has been underpinned by quality imports and exceptional regional talent.
"The team is starting to shape up as one of the stronger combinations we've had over the years," he said.
I think it is the balance of our youth athletes as well as the senior players we've recruited.
- Peter Eddy
Ballarat Miners coach Brendan Joyce admitted he was surprised by the large deficit but said his team played an exceptional game.
Joyce said he hoped to see the Miners "bottle-up" the performance and continue to play that way.
"As a coach you want that consistency, and we were consistent in that game and the guys understand how good they can be now and they know what they have to do to achieve those results," he said.
The Miners will potentially face their toughest challenge yet this weekend when they face the second-placed Kilsyth Cobras on the road.
"Everyone has talked about Kilsyth as being the team to beat, so that's the challenge for us, to say 'we're not bad either," Joyce said.