THIS is the weekend where the Miners men can start to make their move on the NBL1 South ladder with two matches against Sandringham and Melbourne offering opportunities for wins.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But first things first and that's taking care of Sandringham, one of the team that the Miners will be fighting for a top eight position with come the end of the season.
As they say in football, this is essentially an eight point game. The Sabres sit 9-4 on the season, compared to the Miners 6-6.
Last week, like Ballarat, Sandringham won a thriller, beating Diamond Valley by just one point. If that win was important, a victory on the road against Ballarat would be huge in the context of their season.
The Sabres were led last week by 23 points and 13 rebounds from Dane Pineau, including the winning bucket with seven second left, while Campbell Blogg's 28 points was also important.
The Miners should expect to see more minutes from Max Cody after he was managed back into the game last week, while Jack Davidson's 34 points, including eight from 12 from three point range was the difference in their win over Casey.
Should the Miners get up on Saturday night, they would be confident of getting a double, up against Melbourne Tigers on Sunday.
The Tigers are 4-8 on the season and suffered a big defeat last week at the hands of Nunawading last week. These two sides have met once this season already and on that occasion it was the Miners that won well.
The women's game on Saturday night is at 5.30pm with the men to follow at 7.30pm at Selkirk Stadium.
