Cold fourth quarter sends Silverados to another loss

McALLEN — The Rio Grande Valley Silverados picked the wrong time to go cold.

It may be spring-like outside, but when the Silverados needed to make a shot during the fourth quarter of Saturday night’s 100-87 loss to Pittsburgh before a crowd of 930 at the McAllen Convention Center, it was like they were shooting from the 50-yard line at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field.

As such, the Silverados (3-22) lost their fifth straight game and second in as many nights to the Xplosion (15-11).

“You’ve got to make big shots,” Silverados coach Derrick Rowland said. “They were making them, and we weren’t. That’s the gap in between.”

The Silverados trailed 83-80 with 9:31 remaining after Toby Smith’s slam off a Rod Nealy steal and assist. But then the Silverados missed nine of their next 13 shots and watched Pittsburgh go on a 12-2 run with the game in the balance.

Pittsburgh’s John DeGroat led all scorers with 31 points and pulled down 17 rebounds, while guard Shaun Fountain added 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting. Smith paced RGV with 30 points and 10 boards, and Renaldo Norman netted 20 points.

“The fourth quarter, that’s when it’s clutch time, winning time,” DeGroat said. “That’s the way we play it, no matter what. I was just trying to help my team and get a win.”

Pittsburgh held a 30-28 lead after the first quarter and pushed the advantage to 57-46 at halftime.

But the Silverados scratched to within 71-68 late in the third quarter on a Norman putback.

The Xplosion went on a 7-0 run to end the third, but the Silverados fought back to pull within three early in the fourth before faltering late.

“I really think it’s mental preparation for the game,” Smith said. “How we get ready from the start. You just can’t turn it on in the fourth quarter. It’s like we take two steps forward and then we take six steps back.”

Todd Mavreles is the Deputy Sports Editor for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4451.