Dismal second half leads to another Silver Bandits loss

Zack Hall

Monday, Dec. 27, 1999 | 9:42 a.m.

The Las Vegas Silver Bandits were as good as the New Mexico Slam Sunday night, or at least for the first half they were.

But the 1,411 in attendance at the Thomas & Mack Center watched the Silver Bandits disintegrate in the third and fourth quarters to lose 105-99.

It was the second time in as many games that Las Vegas (3-10) came apart after a strong first half, and it has been a constant theme this season.

"I can't figure it out," said Las Vegas forward J.R. Henderson, who led the team with 27 points. "It (a weak second half) has happened to us a bunch of times in our losses. We don't know if it's execution, fatigue or what it is. But I know somebody has to start watching some film and figure it out."

New Mexico was probably lucky that the score was tied at 52 at halftime. Guard Keith Carter kept the Slam in the game by scoring 13 points, including a stretch where he scored 12 straight points to overcome an eight-point deficit midway through the quarter.

But the Bandits came out with the hot hand in the third, taking a 66-62 lead with 6:57 to play in the quarter. But a 3-pointer by Carter, who was 5-of-6 from behind the arc for the night, brought the Slam (8-3) within one. New Mexico then went on a 9-3 run in just under two minutes to take a five-point lead at 74-69. The Slam never trailed again.

"Most games it seems that we have had a letdown in the third quarter," said New Mexico guard Corey Brewer. "But we pressured them and took control of the tempo in the beginning of the third and took over the game."

New Mexico stretched its lead to as much as 11 at 101-90 with just under three minutes to play. But the Bandits fought back with a 7-0 run to get within four with 1:41 left. A steal by Isaac Burton, who passed to Marcus Liberty, who touch-passed it to the trailing Henderson for the easy layup and a foul, brought the score to 101-97. That was as close as Las Vegas got as the Bandits' shooters went cold again to seal the Bandits' second straight loss.

"If we keep going like this, I'm not going to lie, it's not going to be very good," Henderson said. "Some guys are going to get down on themselves and confidence is going to start going down."

In spite of the loss, Liberty's debut for the Bandits went well. Liberty was second on the team in scoring with 18 points despite playing only 24 minutes. He went 8-of-15 from the field and added three assists and a block to his totals.

"I felt pretty good," Liberty said. "It looks like we have a pretty good team. We just have to buckle down in the fourth quarter because that is when the game is won."