Window-rattler

McALLEN — The Rio Grande Valley Silverados looked well on their way to picking up their fourth win of the season Friday night, leading by five points with five minutes remaining.

But instead of seizing the game, they watched as Pittsburgh made the plays late to snatch away an 85-80 victory before a McAllen Convention Center crowd estimated by RGV team officials as approximately 300.

“We just really didn’t execute like we should have,” Silverados swingman Trent Eager said. “We didn’t get good shots, and that’s what cost us.”

The Silverados (3-21) were leading 76-71 after Eager’s fastbreak layup with 5:13 remaining. Then Pittsburgh (14-11) went on an 8-0 run, capped by Kevin Mickens’ bucket with 2:00 remaining that gave the Xplosion a 79-76 advantage.

On RGV’s ensuing possession, Rod Nealy (game-high 26 points) pulled RGV within 79-78 on a layup off a feed from Nate Johnson with 1:38 left.

Then after a Pittsburgh miss gave the Silverados a chance to reclaim the lead, Eager’s driving layup attempt was blocked by Albert White, eventually leading to Shaun Fountain’s 17-foot pull up jumper — on a possession kept alive by an offensive rebound — with 13.9 seconds remaining to give Pittsburgh an 81-78 lead.

Johnson then missed a baseline 3-point attempt with 8.8 seconds to go as another potential Silverados win slipped away.

“Just little mental lapses, that’s all it was,” said Johnny Tyson, who had 10 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots off the bench. “It was nothing we did bad. We rebounded. We protected the ball a whole lot better in the second half. It’s just down the stretch, the time we needed it, we turned it over and that was the wrong thing we did. But we’re going to get better and get it turned around (today).”

The Silverados, who trailed 32-22 after the first quarter, play host to the Xplosion once again tonight. RGV won the second and third quarters to take a 64-56 lead into the fourth, but couldn’t finish and suffered its fourth consecutive defeat.

“(Today) we have to come out with a better effort, more focused and more intensity,” Pittsburgh coach Carlos Knox said. “I think that we really need to come establish ourselves quick.”

John DeGroat led Pittsburgh with 20 points and seven rebounds, while White chipped in with 19 points. Fountain added 14 points, 10 in the second half.

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