Baník, the Slovak word for “miner”, is the traditional nickname of BC Prievidza. In their FIBA Europe Cup group stage opener against BC Kutaisi 2010 from Georgia, the miners had to bring the shovels and dig extra-deep to eke out a blue-collar, 77:69 home win.

On some nights, it is just not there. The flow, the rhythm, the synergy - you just can not seem to find it. And Wednesday evening was a night like these for BC Prievidza: Wide-open three-pointers would go in and out. BC went 7 of 36 from beyond the arc, a completely uncharacteristic percentage of below 20 per cent. Even more frustrating given the fact that the Georgian champions were basically daring the hosts to let it fly from three sticking to an old-school zone for most of the game.

Talking about old-school: With American combo guard Elijah Joiner out injured, Kutaisi’s line-up mostly consisted of one guard and four bigs. They went to a post-up action on almost every possession and tried to slow things down and use the full shot clock. This unorthodox configuration created a lot of problems for the home team with its size and strength. 36 of their 69 points overall originated from the paint. At the half, Kutaisi entered the locker room with a three-point lead.

From an aesthetic point of view, things did not improve substantially after the break. The contest remained hard-fought, devoid of rhythm, at times ugly. But now the miners brought out their hard hats and shovels. They never fully captured the momentum to run away with the game, but the newfound energy and grind were sufficient to turn things around in BC’s favor. Despite a severe size disadvantage, Prievidza dominated the rebounding battle 55(!!!) to 38. 25 offensive boards helped create 17 second-chance points.

Standout individual performances were nowhere to be found as every single player was struggling. However, a lot more importantly, BC stayed together as a team and in the face of adversity dug deep enough to find the treasured home victory. In true miner fashion…