ACC men’s basketball team is on a roll. The Red Devils defeated Fort Scott 60-45 on Wednesday to extend their winning streak to six games.
It wasn’t always smooth sailing for the Red Devils.
Allen led early, but lapses and turnovers allowed the FSCC Greyhounds to go on a 9-0 run, putting Allen into a deep hole.
Allen was not rebounding well early in the game and the Greyhounds had the speed that kept the Red Devils fits.
Fort Scott led at the break 34-26.
The halftime break did wonders for the Red Devils. Allen came out energized and ready to make a comeback.
And they did just that. Allen opened on a 4-0 run to close the lead to 34-30. Fort Scott pulled out again, but Allen kept the lead hovering around four points for much of the early portion of the second half.
With 6:25 left, a jumper by Allen’s Brayen Thompson knotted the game at 44-44. Then, a huge dunk by Allen’s Zabriel Boozer lit a fire under the Red Devils.
From there, Allen went on a 16-1 run to end the game, punctuated by a three from Cedric Rollerson.
Allen’s crowd, which can drain the life out of opponents, was loud and just seemed to get louder with each bucket, deafening the arena and making it hard for the Greyhounds to keep their composure and call plays.
“It took us some time to try and figure out their defense. In the first half, Fort Scott out-toughed us. They had momentum and were bringing the energy,” said Allen head coach Andy Shaw. “It was a total team effort. Malachi Martin, who hasn’t been playing a lot, stepped up and made a big three. He gave us some quality minutes.”
Rollerson led the way with 14 points. Brandon Lawrence had 11 points. Thompson and Ed Wright had eight and seven rebounds. Ahmed Mahgoub had seven and seven boards. Martin contributed five. Nick Whittick, Boozer, Chris Dixon, and Tyren Shelley had two. Boozer also had six boards.
Allen, 16-4 and 4-0 in conference play, has won 13 of their last 14 games, the last seven by double digits. The Red Devils are at Kansas City Kansas Community College Saturday.
