The Braves' women needed a Tess Madgen jump shot with 23 seconds on the clock to edge out Knox 76-75, while the Braves' men were more convincing in their 83-72 victory.

In the women's game, the Raiders led by three points with three minutes remaining in the third quarter.

However, the Braves produced an 11-1 run to end the quarter seven points in front.

It proved to be a crucial run as the final quarter was a grind for both teams.

The Braves scored two points in the first eight minutes of the final term and had their seven-point lead eroded.

The lead changed hands four times in a tense final two minutes.

A three-pointer from Madgen regained the lead for the Braves after they fell behind 73-71.

Knox star Alicia Froling connected on a jump shot to give Knox a 75-74 lead with 40 seconds remaining.

That set the stage for more Madgen heroics as she made another basket under pressure to give the Braves the lead with 23 seconds on the clock.

Froling missed from under the basket and Braves' guard Cassidy McLean grabbed a crucial defensive rebound.

The Raiders continued to foul the Braves as the clock ran down, but Bendigo held on to record its 12th win of the season and consolidated top spot on the ladder.

Madgen, who was last week named in the Opals' squad to travel to New York for a pre-World Cup training camp, was at her brilliant best.

Her match-winning bucket late in the game completed a 31-point haul, to go with 11 rebounds and six assists.

Madgen was 5-8 from behind the three three-point line and she played all 40 minutes of the match.

Kelly Wilson was in the same boat as coach Mark Alabakov elected to only use one player off his bench - Madeline Sexton.

Wilson was just shy of a triple-double, with 10 points, eight boards and seven assists.

Centre Meg McKay was superb with 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Abbey Wehrung had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Despite the absence of injured forward Kuany Kuany, the Braves' men scored a crucial win over another play-off hopeful.

The 83-72 victory lifted the Braves to an 8-6 record and inside the top eight.

The hero for the Braves was local product Jake Lloyd, who scored a season-high 21 points on 8-13 shooting, and grabbed eight rebounds.

Centre Sidy Mohamed Djitte continued his good form with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Malcom Bernard, MItch Clarke and Luke Rosendale scored 10 points each to round out a solid team performance,

Defensively, the Braves restricted the Raiders to 38 per cent shooting and only conceded 10 free throw attempts for the match.

In contrast, the Braves were 19-24 from the charity stripe.

The Braves' men and women are back on their home court next Saturday night against the Sandringham Sabres.

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