BLUE Devils coach Mike Nichols was full of praise for his Bury side after they fought back to steal a late victory at Tameside last week.

Having already beaten the Championship side at home earlier in the season, an away league victory by the third-placed Devils was expected. But the visitors were made to work hard for the success after a lacklustre opening few minutes had seen them trail 15-0.

However, a physical and mental change in tactics by Nichols saw the visitors claim a 64-58 victory in the closing minutes of the game.

"I was proud at the way we pulled together and played smart down the stretch," he said.

"We had a poor stretch leading by six points to be down by three with a couple of minutes remaining.

"Rather than call time out, I challenged my players to search in themselves for an answer to bring us home and they did what was necessary.

"A maturing and supportive attitude took place within those last few minutes and that was the difference between us and a tough Tameside team."

Tameside built up a 15-0 lead before Nichols hit Bury's first points following a great pass from Jason Knowles.

Stu Jackson and Kin Ming Lin also found the target as the visitors pulled themselves back to within seven points at the end of the first quarter with newcomer Scott Maffia and Jackson again hitting the target.

Knowles stepped up his offensive game hitting on two threes at the start the second quarter as Bury closed the gap to a single point.

Chris and Phil Stainton got on the scoreboard but Bury could not quite take the lead, trailing by five points at half time.

Every time the Devils stepped up a gear, Tameside kept finding the basket and although Nichols, Phil Stainton and Jackson combined for a mini run, the hosts held on to a slender lead towards the end of the third quarter.

Ergoli Togo hit the mark and Phil Stainton hit a three as Bury took the lead for the first time and as Tameside countered, the Blue Devils dug deep to take a 50-48 point lead going into the final quarter.

The visitors built up a six-point cushion but Tameside fought back to put together a seven-point run and move three points clear with two minutes remaining.

However, Bury's Phil Stainton stepped up to first block a shot attempt and then make a steal and pass to brother Chris for a score. The visitors forced Tameside into a poor shot before taking the ball down for a score and another late steal by Stainton secured the win for the Devils.