A shorthanded BC Prievidza ended their TIPOS SBL regular season with an impressive 102-97 overtime away win at Nitra Blue Wings. The Miners thereby secured home court advantage for the upcoming quarter-final playoff series against the same opponent.

Despite key starters Keith Jordan and Hunter Dean out injured, the guests got off to a good start and jumped out to an early 12-point lead midway through the first quarter. In the second stanza though, the hosts began to punish BC’s zone defense with quality shot making from beyond the arc. When Keyshaun Langley’s jumper made it 39-36 4 minutes before halftime, it seemed that momentum had shifted. But the Miners showed terrific resilience and reversed the trend by relentlessly attacking the paint again and again. At the half, their lead had grown back to eight points (42-50).

The advantage remained fairly consistent in the third quarter. In the final period, however, Blue Wings made another strong push and retook the lead with three minutes to play (90-87). Once again, though, BC did not cave in. Marc Loving, who delivered an MVP-worthy performance with 36 points and 18 rebounds, tied the score at 93 apiece and when former BC player Oleksandr Belikov came up short on a buzzer-beating putback attempt, teams were headed to overtime.

With two minutes to go in the extra period and the score still knotted up at 97-97, it was Jordan Johnson’s time to shine: The diminutive but powerful point guard first converted a difficult mid-range jumper and then made an acrobatic reverse layup with considerable contact. 97-101, game over and playoff home court advantage clinched for BC.

Aside from the “usual suspects” Loving, Johnson (22 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds) and C.J. Jackson (18 pts, 11 reb), Head Coach Gareth Murray received valuable contributions from other sources, as well: Lukas Bolek had 11 points and six boards in 35 minutes before having to leave the court after a nasty head-on collision with the floor. Jacob O’Connell scored eight straight points during a quick spurt in the first half.

This upcoming Friday, it all begins at 0-0 again when both teams open their playoff quarterfinal series at Prievidza’s Sportova hala. But with a gritty and courageous performance, the Miners set the tone for things to come.