The Bandits’ 120-104 defeat at the Albury Sports Stadium on Saturday night was largely the result of superior offensive play from the visitors at crucial stages.

Wilson said his squad turned the ball over too many times when it could not afford those kinds of lapses.

“Mental lapses through the game cost us,” he said.

“We turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions, and Ballarat would score.

“We’re staying in games but we’re just not getting over the hump.

“They capitalised on our errors which probably gave them momentum at the start of the second half.

“They had everyone contribute whereas we had only four players in double figures.

“We just need to get better at our decision making at crucial times.”

The Miners were led by star forward Jamal Brown (24 points and 17 rebounds), while Nathan Cavanagh scored 18 points and Brett Goodgame chipped in with 16 for a Ballarat squad that had seven players in double figures.

Andrew Rice was once again a force for the Bandits, scoring 38 points and hauling down 18 boards, while Blagoj Janev added 21 points and 11 rebounds for the hosts.

The Bandits opened the game strongly with Rice showing some good form as the hosts pushed to a 19-14 advantage after eight minutes.

But the visitors persisted with their running game and took a 28-25 advantage into the first break.

An 18-4 run by the Miners stretched the advantage to 17 points early in the second quarter as the Bandits continued to struggle to contain the visitors’ transition offence.

However a sharp 13-0 burst from the Border club cut the Ballarat lead to just four points, 46-42, with less than three minutes remaining in the half.

A three-pointer from Gavin Illangakoon tied the scores but four quick points from Brown, including a massive baseline dunk, enabled the Miners to take a slender 53-51 lead into the main interval.