KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Not the results they wanted. Allen County Community College’s basketball teams opened Jayhawk Eastern Division conference play on the road with losses Wednesday.
The Red Devil men challenged undefeated and 12th-ranked Kansas City, Kan., Community College’s Blue Devils in the first half. They trailed by eight, 40-32, at halftime but the Blue Devils outscored the Red Devils 38-28 in the second half for a 78-60 win.
The loss puts the ACCC men at 0-1 in conference action and 6-7 overall. Kansas City improved to 12-0 overall and 1-0 in the Jayhawk East.
Earlier, the Red Devil women dropped a 57-48 decision to Kansas City’s women. The ACCC women fell to 5-8 overall and 0-1 in conference play while the Blue Devil women moved to 10-3 on the season and 1-0 in the conference.
The Red Devil squads look for conference victories on the road Saturday at Fort Scott.
“Defense and turnovers have become our nemesis,” said Anwar Perry, ACCC men’s head coach. “We turned the ball over 27 times and only had eight assists.
“It’s hard to have discipline and leadership when 18 of our 27 turnovers come from our sophomores. We have to protect the ball more and become tougher with the ball.”
Allen County’s men shot 41 percent, 24 of 58, from the field. They outrebounded KCK 41 to 37. The Blue Devils were just a little better from the field, 28 of 60 for 46 percent.
Neither team shot well from long range. The Red Devils went 2 of 17 from outside the three-point arc while the Blue Devils were 3 of 14.
Kansas City made it to the free-throw line 14 more times than Allen County. The KCK men cashed in on 19 of 29 free throw attempts and ACCC was 10 of 15 at the line.
Canon Fields led the Red Devils with 14 points, three assists and four steals. Tyrone Jones added 12 points plus had four blocked shots.
Terrell Shears claimed 11 rebounds for Allen County and Thomas Daniel had seven rebounds. Mychael Anderson made three steals.
Kansas City had five players score in double figures. Mylin Jordan led the way with 17 points followed by Jordan Banks with 15 points and Brandon Morris with 14 points.
Zach Bush added 13 points and Duke Ezeamii had 10 points.
