In a down-to-the-wire affair between Allen Community College and Independence CC, the Pirates outworked the Red Devils on the glass.
ACC shot 55% from the field, but 21 second chance points for the Pirates versus ACC’s eight was the difference in the Red Devils 85-80 loss on sophomore night.
“In a game that we lose by five, it is why they beat us,” ACC head coach Andy Shaw said.
In the first half, neither team was able to separate themselves. A 4-0 ACC start was undone by a quick 7-0 Indy run, forcing Shaw to take a timeout.
The Red Devils’ largest deficit was five at the midway mark in the first half, but a strong bucket from Malik Hardmon, and a 3-pointer from Shaikim Jenks leveled the score at 15-15 with nine minutes remaining in the half.
Hardmon scored 18 of his team-high 28 points in the first half, including a 3-pointer in the waning seconds before halftime. Indy and ACC were deadlocked at 33-33 after the first half.
“Malik went 2 of 2 from three, but he knocked down some mid-range jumpers, and obviously scored it well at the rim,” Shaw said.
The Red Devils opened the second half with a bang. A ball lobbed to Hardmon at the rim was finished comfortably in mid-air, and a corner trey from Trez Hankins put ACC up 38-33. Even so, the Red Devils couldn’t separate themselves out in front.
“We were very efficient, but it came down to little things,” Shaw said. “We had 17 turnovers to their nine, and they had 17 offenesive rebounds to our 10. We had a better shooting percentage, but just look at how many more opportunities they had because of turnovers or offensive rebounds.”
Indy led by eight, the largest lead for either team, with seven minutes left in the second half. ACC answered with an and-one finish from Joel Boyce, and back-to-back triples from Trez Hankins, bringing ACC within one at 68-67.
“Trez went 5/12 from three, and he made some big ones for us,” Shaw said.
The Pirates led 81-77 with 35.6 seconds left. Boyce quickly dribbled past multiple defenders, driving to the rim and finishing through the contact, which earned him a trip to the charity stripe. Boyce calmly completed the 3-point play, bringing ACC within one with 25.2 seconds left.
ACC was forced to foul, sending the Pirates to the line for a 1-and-1. Indy missed its first attempt, but ACC failed to get the rebound, leading to a Pirate put-back with 7.9 seconds to go. Out of the Shaw timeout, Boyce received a look to level the score, but his 3-point attempt couldn’t fall through.
“Joel had a decent look to tie the game, but unfortunately for us it didn’t go in,” Shaw said. “We could look back through the game at a lot of their second chance points, and our silly turnovers. If we cut those in half, we probably win this game.”
The 85-80 loss is ACC’s fifth consecutive, moving them to 15-14 on the season. ACC still has one more game remaining in the regular season, the Red Devils will travel to Chanute for a match with rival Neosho County on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
