Bricks from foul line sink Bandits

Victoria Sun

Monday, Feb. 21, 2000 | 10:07 a.m.

There were plenty of opportunities for the Las Vegas Silver Bandits to pull within one game of the division-leading St. Louis Swarm and avenge the previous day's loss.

Fifty-three opportunities, to be exact.

They didn't come in the form of jumpers, layups or putbacks.

They came in the form of free throws.

And the Silver Bandits missed enough in their second consecutive loss, 98-90 to the Swarm before an estimated 1,000 at the Thomas & Mack Center Sunday night.

"We intentionally do things to get to the line and if you do that and don't make them, they get away free," Bandits coach Rolland Todd said. "It's hard work getting in there and getting fouled and it's disappointing when you don't get a reward.

"We were getting to the line and if we had made a good percentage, not every one, we would have been in it. One guy misses, then it's almost contagious."

Las Vegas (22-14) made just 32 of its 53 free throws compared to 20-of-27 for St. Louis (24-10). The last time the Silver Bandits lost back-to-back games was in December.

Poor free-throw shooting wasn't the only thing that did in the Bandits.

From the start, the Swarm was hot offensively and dominant defensively, holding the Silver Bandits to just 38.2 percent from the field in the first half. St. Louis shot 51.3 percent to take a 55-46 lead at the break.

The Swarm took an early 17-6 lead after Antwain Smith made a layup in transition and never trailed.

A late Las Vegas rally pulled the Silver Bandits within one, 78-77, when Mark Wade converted a 3-point play. The Bandits' Rocky Walls made one of two free throws to make it 84-82 St. Louis with 5:22 left in the game, but Las Vegas was never able to take command.

"We have always been playing catch-up the whole year," said the Silver Bandits' Isaac Burton, who had 24 points and six assists. "I guess we figured if we got down again, we could come back.

"This loss is big because I guess they're telling us right now they're the team to beat in the West. If we won two right here, we're a game up on them. That would have been a good confidence-builder for the team."

Instead, the Bandits must regroup after the hard-fought and emotional contest.

Las Vegas was called for five technical fouls in the game, and two were called on St. Louis coach Bernie Bickerstaff, who was subsequently ejected in the third quarter.

Las Vegas' Harold Ellis came off the bench for a game-high 27 points and was the second player on the team after J.R. Henderson to foul out of the game.

On the other end, St. Louis' Byron Houston and Derek Grimm fouled out.

"It was so inconsistent," Todd said of the officiating. "Guys get knocked down, no foul is called.

"Then the next guy gets knocked down and it's a foul. For the players it's hard to get into a rhythm. If the game was consistently called, whether you agree or disagree with the way they're calling it, you can adjust."

Next up for the Silver Bandits is a game at Baltimore on Thursday.