Everything was going Allen Community College’s way late in its conference opener against Fort Scott Saturday — until it didn’t.
The Red Devils were on the cusp of overcoming some early ball-handling issues, erasing a 13-point deficit to force overtime.
But critical offensive foul calls against the Red Devils spelled doom down the stretch.
Fort Scott’s Marko Taft scored a field goal with about 50 seconds left in overtime, and Allen came up empty on its last three possessions, falling 92-91.
The loss drops ACC to 5-9 on the season and 0-1 in Jayhawk Conference play.
Allen’s Tyler Pinder missed a 3-pointer with about 40 seconds left in the extra session, and after an extended replay review, the officials ruled the ball bounced off Allen guard Mike Smith’s hands, and not a Fort Scott player’s to give the Greyhounds possession.
But Smith promptly forced a tie-up by poking the ball free on defense, giving ACC another possession with 23.2 seconds left.
But that possession ended after Pinder collided with Taft at the top of the key. The officials ruled Pinder initiated the contact, worthy of an offensive foul, his fifth foul of the game, with 4 seconds left on the clock.
Allen promptly fouled Fort Scott’s Jadyn Hollis on the inbound pass. He missed both free throws, and the ball went out of bounds to Allen with 1.8 seconds left.
The Red Devils’ Javontae Costner was unable to catch the inbound pass cleanly as he attempted a turnaround jumper at midcourt. Officials ruled his shot, which came agonizingly close to banking in, would not have counted had it fell.
The setback spoiled what had been a dandy comeback for the Red Devils, who committed 18 first-half turnovers, yet trailed just 40-38 at the break.
Fort Scott threatened to break the game open in the second half with an 11-2 run to lead, 65-52, with 11:59 left in the game.
The deficit was 10 when Costner drilled a 3-pointer to park a 14-2 Allen run, capped by a Malachi Schilreff layup to push ACC ahead, 76-74 with 4:25 left in the game.
But Schilreff, who was called for three fouls in quick succession early in the second half, was whistled for an offensive foul on Allen’s next possession — his fifth of the game — sending him to the bench for good with 3½ minutes in regulation.
Pinder’s layup pushed ACC on top, 80-78, with 1:10 left in the game. Fort Scott’s Devin Boone responded with a 3-pointer to give the lead back to the Greyhounds. Tyonn Scott hit 1 of 2 free throws with 29 seconds remaining to knot the score at 81-81.
