Devils crash in second half

Anwar Perry figures he’ll get out of the guarantee business.
“We played horribly on offense, and that was probably my fault because I guaranteed we would be better,” Perry said. “And we weren’t.”
Allen County Community College’s men saw their offense go south after halftime Saturday, scoring only 19 points after intermission.
The extended cold spells allowed visiting Fort Scott Community College to turn a 36-29 halftime deficit into a 63-54 win.
The loss spoiled sophomore night for ACCC in the Red Devils’ home finale. Allen County (4-12 in Jayhawks Eastern Conference play and 7-20 overall) travels to Independence Wed-nesday and Cowley County Saturday to wrap up the regular season.
The Red Devils struggled throughout the contest to score against Fort Scott’s 2-3 zone, a fact that left Perry more than a bit peeved.
“We had many opportunities, but they worked twice as hard as we did,”  Perry said. “We should be wanting to play games like this, and tonight we didn’t.”
The difference in the first and second halves came from beyond the three-point line.
“We were content to shoot three-pointers against their zone,” Perry said.
Allen County drained four treys in the opening half, enough to forge a 35-29 lead at intermission.
But the Red Devils didn’t score from the field in the second half until Thomas Daniel’s putback at the 16-minute mark.
Fort Scott quickly erased its six-point deficit early in the second half, but didn’t take its first lead until Teance Walton scored at the 8:24 mark to give the Greyhounds a 47-46 advantage. Allen County’s Tah-shaun Kelly responded at the other end with a jumper to push the Red Devils back on top 48-47, before Alex Barner scored again for Fort Scott.
The misses triggered a 5-minute stretch in which Allen County did not score from the field. By the time the Red Devils connected at the 2:00 mark, Fort Scott’s lead had ballooned to 57-49.
Nowhere was the offensive plight more evident than in the play of Allen County’s Jason Smith, the leading scorer in the Jayhawk Conference. Smith was plagued by foul trouble throughout the contest, and mustered only 10 points. He was scoreless in the second half until hitting a free throw and then scoring on a driving layup with just under a minute left.
By then, the Greyhounds were on top 60-54. Fort Scott hit 3 of 4 free throws in the final minute, while Allen County got only one shot on their final two possessions, a miss.
Ricky Hollis scored 14 points for the Red Devils  while Shears added 13 and Daniel 11. Smith had five assists. Keevis Stukes added five steals.
Menas Stephens hit  4 of 5 threes on the way to a game-high 27 points to lead Fort Scott.
The Greyhounds shot 51 percent from the field, compared to Allen County’s 35 percent.  Both teams pulled in 28 rebounds. Fort Scott was 9 of 14 from the line; Allen County 10 of 17.
Fort Scott (29-34—63) (FG/3-pt): Mason 1/1-0-0-5, Floyd 0-0-1-0, Stephens 5/4-5-2-27, Carter 2-0-0-4, Barner 4/1-0-0-11, Trost 0-0-2-0, Hayes 0-0-3-0, Walton 6-4-2-16, Flowers 0-0-2-0. TOTALS: 18/6-9-12-63.
Allen County (35-19—54) (FG/3-pt): Smith 2/1-3-4-10, Tukes 1-0-2-2, Kelly 2-0-4-4, Daniel 4-3-3-11, Hollis 3/2-2-2-14, McDowell 0-0-1-0, Myrick 0-0-1-0, Shears 4/1-2-2-13. TOTALS: 16/4-10-17-54.