An injury-riddled Allen Community College roster shook off its recent struggles, and battled through a back-and-forth affair against rival Neosho, winning 81-70.
“We are a little different than when we started the year,” ACC head coach Andy Shaw said. “Canaan (Daniels) and Trez (Hankins) are our two best shooters from the perimeter by far, but we don’t have them right now due to injury. We are just down bodies right now. We started the year with 17 guys and looked like we were going to have an army going across the baseline. Yesterday I was sitting there wondering, ‘where did everybody go?’”
Basketball may be a game of runs, but neither the Red Devils or Panthers could carve a lead early on. Both teams remained deadlocked at 11-11 five minutes through the contest. With Malik Hardmon and Joel Boyce on the bench for ACC due to foul trouble, the Panthers engineered an 8-0 to take a 25-17 lead and force an ACC timeout.
Out of the break, Boyce helped lead ACC on a 14-4 run to retake the lead. Boyce finished with 13 points in the first half, including a pair of 3-pointers to help ACC regain a 37-34 lead at the halftime buzzer.
“I think he (Boyce) realizes that we are down bodies, and he knows he is capable of getting to the rim and scoring,” Shaw said. “He has also been a good passer in the past, and he is hard to guard one-on-one.”
Three straight 3-pointers from Neosho helped the Panthers take a 49-48 lead, but a trey from Hardmon helped the Red Devils regain their edge seven minutes into the second half. Boyce extended ACC’s lead to five with a crafty and-one finish.
As the Red Devils continued to inch ahead, they took firm control of the offensive and defensive boards. ACC out-rebounded Neosho 62-30 in the contest.
“That was one of the keys to the game,” Shaw said. “We wanted to control the paint with our scoring and rebounding.”
A floater in the lane from Shaikim Jenks made the score 71-62 in the waning minutes. The Red Devils stood composed at the free throw line down the stretch to hold on for the 81-70 victory.
Boyce finished with a double-double, scoring 23 points and capturing 16 rebounds. Jalen Sasser also earned a double-double with a 16-point, 13-rebound performance.
“Its’ good to win that one, and big for our confidence too,” Shaw said. “We have kind of been struggling a little bit, and have lost five of our last six, and needed to get back on the right track.”
With the win, ACC stands in a three-way tie for third with Independence and Coffeyville at 9-5. The Red Devils will host the JV squad from Oklahoma Wesleyan tonight before starting the repeat of the conference cycle on Saturday versus Butler at home.
