Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2001 | 10:07 a.m.
Sylvester Dotson started the game with a flourish and hoped he could finish it the same way.
UNLV's backup center had to be content with playing a prominent role in the first half of the Rebels' 80-72 victory over New Mexico on Monday night.
Thrust into his third college start after Kaspars Kambala was benched for disciplinary reasons, Dotson played his third straight strong game. He scored nine of his 11 points in the first half as the Rebels grabbed a 36-27 lead.
Dotson also started the second half, but was pulled with 12:45 left when Kambala finally got in. As it turned out, Dotson was done for the night.
"I thought I might get back in at the end, but that's OK -- we won," said Dotson, a 6-foot-7 senior from Detroit. "You know me. I just tried to help out any way I could."
Dotson has been helping a lot more lately, though this was the first contribution that led to a victory.
He played only five minutes in a Jan. 13 loss at Utah, but blocked two shots and played physical defense. Then in last Monday's 28-point defeat at BYU, he scored a career-high 12 points in 16 minutes, showing a variety of low-post moves.
Against New Mexico, Dotson missed the first shot of the game, but came back quickly with a 10-foot turnaround basket and a post-up layup for an 11-3 lead. He added a tip-in and three free throws, the last two helping UNLV close the half with a 5-0 run.
In the second half, his only points came on a layup shortly before he exited.
"Dotson played extremely well in the first half," UNLV coach Max Good said. "I came back with him in the second half, but when we got down to the end, we had to make free throws. For all the things Dot does, he isn't a particularly good free-throw shooter."
New Mexico coach Fran Fraschilla said, "Dotson could start for any other team in the conference. He just happens to be playing behind two all-league players (Kambala and Dalron Johnson)."
The Rebels are 3-0 when Dotson starts. His first start was last season in an 87-80 victory over Eastern Kentucky, and he also started on Jan. 3 as the Rebels beat Loyola Marymount 75-60. Kambala missed that game with a sore back.
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