BALLARAT Miners coach Luke Sunderland was struggling to contain his anger after Saturday night's loss to Hobart Chargers at home, on Sunday he would have been catatonic if the Miners had have blown a 12-point lead and lost to Dandenong Rangers.
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Fortunately he had Preston Bungei on his side as the star forward slammed down a dunk with just one second on the clock to give the Miners a great escape two-point win, 72-70.
After a quiet performance of just five points and being fouled out in the last quarter on Saturday night in the seven-point loss to the Chargers, Bungei had a point to prove and was the difference between the two sides on Sunday with 20 points and eight rebounds including the clutch final play.
Twice the Miners opened up big leads, allowing Dandenong back into the contest in the third quarter before the home team drew level in the final stages.
It could have been a big weekend for the Miners had they had woken from their holiday slumber against the Chargers, but a 1-1 weekend will leave the coach in a lot better mood than he was rightfully in on Saturday night.
On Saturday night, The Miners started well enough, ahead by six points at the first change, but gradually Hobart got on top, reducing the deficit to just three at the main break.
Chargers big man Harry Froling was had huge impact ending the night with 16 points and 12 rebounds, but it was his strength under the basket that led to the likes of AJ Harris (18 points) and guard Samuel McDaniel (24 points) to run amok as the Miners guards struggled to get out of first gear.
SCOREBOARDS
SATURDAY: Ballarat Miners 75 (D. Gak 16, J. Miller 12, N. Pozoglou 10) def by Hobart Chargers 82 (S. McDaniel 24, A. Harris 18, H. Froling 16)
SUNDAY: Ballarat Miners 72 (P. Bungei 20, N. Pozoglou 11) def Dandenong Rangers 70 (D. King-Hawea 22)
