Silverados earn second straight victory

McALLEN — During the final minutes of the first quarter of Sunday’s contest between the Rio Grande Valley Silverados and the Albany Patroons, a fan sitting next to the visiting team’s bench yelled, “Stop crying,” making Albany coach Vincent Askew laugh.

It wasn’t that the Patroons were literally crying, but rather they were displaying a high level of communication they lacked in a loss the previous night to the Silverados, who dominated in a 114-100 victory Sunday at the McAllen Convention Center.

It was the Silverados’ second straight victory, a first for the first-year franchise. RGV (7-31) has passed the Great Falls Explorers in standings points for the final playoff spot in the National Conference, taking a 79 1/2 to 74 1/2 lead after the Explorers’ 94-85 loss to the Butte Daredevils on Sunday.

“It was a great victory for the franchise and for the city,” Silverados coach Derrick Rowland said. “We put two games together and we’re happy to get these because wins are hard to come by for us, but we’re trying to make a run for the playoffs.

“Basketball is a game of runs,” he continued. “We make a run, they make a run, but you want to finish what’s yours, and that’s what happened tonight. We kind of finished the game strong tonight, and it just took a little time for us to get in, but once we were there we did a good job. We just got to keep moving forward from here and see what happens.”

Rowland called an early timeout at the 10:49 mark to cool off his team, which faced a 6-1 deficit. As the players walked off the court, Albany’s Jason Williams shouted, “Yesterday is over with.”

But as the game progressed, the Patroons’ communication became non-existent and the Silverados turned the tables on Albany in the second half.

Holding a six-point halftime lead, the Silverados took their largest lead at 83-67 late in the third quarter. The Patroons (18-15) cut the deficit to 96-86 with 7:19 remaining, but a jumper from Jason Forte (15 points, seven assists) helped spark a 10-0 run.

“We played good, we played hard,” said the Silverados’ Gordon Kailber, who scored 22 points. “It was an even game. Nobody actually played tough defense. The biggest key was (us) just playing hard and finishing off.”

The Silverados had six players in double figures, with Reynaldo Norman scoring a game-high 25 points and collecting eight rebounds. Newcomer Craig Morton finished 5-of-5 from the field, posting a double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds.

The Silverados play again at 7:05 tonight at the Oklahoma Calvary, and they will take with them the newly signed Cedrick Meginnis, a power forward/center from North Carolina-Wilmington. They return to the Valley on Feb. 29 for their final homestand of the season, a three-game series against the Daredevils.