Goldminers rallied late at the Bathurst Indoor Sports Stadium on Saturday night to claim a 63-62 win in the dying seconds of the game.

Kobe Mansell showed he’s got ice in his veins as he sunk three straight free throws to complete the comeback victory.

Bathurst returned to the court on Sunday to take on competition leaders Newcastle, but the ’Miners were outclassed in a 95-69 result.

Goldminers were without some of their strongest players, including Will Cranston-Lown, Matt Gray and Zak Simons, but the group had their share of great moments playing in front of the home crowd.

The mixed bag of results still have Goldminers in an encouraging position.

Goldminers can secure a home court advantage for week one of finals against Moss Vale Magic if the Bathurst side can win their last regular season match over the Sydney Uni Lions.

Goldminers coach Andrew Osborn said it wasn’t the most complete performance from his side against Hornsby but was happy with a final quarter resurgence.

“We hit the opening basket of the game then we didn’t lead until the very end. We didn’t play well. We turned the ball over, struggled on defence but the guys kept at it,” he said.

“Even with 30 seconds to go I still felt that we could win the game.

“This was the game that we had to win, and now because Moss Vale lost to Manly on the weekend we only have to win our last game to get that home match.”

Goldminers were as much as 10 points down late in the third quarter but improved rapidly to see off the Spiders.

However, the depleted Goldminers side were no match for the competition leaders in the second leg of their home double header.

Hunters’ combination of size and skill were too much for the hosts from the opening minutes.

Osborn said it was easy to see why Newcastle lead the way on the ladder.

“They were too big, too strong and too good. To our guys’ credit they stuck with them, but when they ran out to a 17-0 lead at the start the game was effectively already over,” he said.

“We wanted to finish our season with an undefeated record at home, but went down in our last game. Victor Chua was also carrying an injury from the Saturday game, but our guys never dropped their heads.

“They just murdered us on the ball. Every time they got inside they scored. They had one seven foot player and another back from college in the US, but they didn’t have a bad player on that team.

“They’re the form team of the competition and will go into the finals as clear favourites, but when a team has all their players back and it’s finals time then it’s a completely different game.”

The equation for the Bathurst side is simple as they head into the last round.

If Goldminers win their match against the Lions then they will finish the season with a 13-6 record.

The Magic will also finish with the same record should they win their last two matches, but Bathurst will have a home court advantage due to the better head-to-head record.