KANSAS CITY, KAN. — The Allen Community College men’s basketball team dropped their third straight loss at Metropolitan on Tuesday night.
The Red Devils (1-3) were challenged offensively in the first half as the Wolves forced a number of turnovers to go up by as much as nine points.
Allen trailed Metropolitan at halftime, 34-30.
The red and black turned the ball over a couple of times coming out after halftime which led to Metropolitan points. Thirteen turnovers proved the bane of the Red Devils.
“The turnovers really hurt us against Metro,” said Allen head coach Andy Shaw. “They were able to speed us up and played very physical on-ball defense. We did not handle their pressure very well at all. It is still very early in the season. We are still searching for different lineups to play together and haven’t quite clicked on the offensive end yet.”
The Wolves grabbed a 19-point lead almost midway through the second half following a number of Red Devil turnovers. Allen then forced some Metropolitan turnovers and got within three points with over a minute remaining in regulation.
A final Allen turnover at an inauspicious time led to the winning Metropolitan score. The Wolves sealed the victory at the free throw line in the final minute.
“Defensively I think we will be fine. Cowley and Coffeyville are ranked D1 opponents and we were able to hold our own against them,” said Shaw. “Metropolitan just out-toughed us and didn’t let us run anything on offense. We will get to play Metro at home in December, and the guys will be ready for that rematch.”
The Red Devils were outshot from the field, 46.3% to the Wolves’ 48.1% shooting mark. Allen also trailed from the three-point arc where they shot at a 25% clip as opposed to Metropolitan’s 35%.
Allen was also outrebounded by Metropolitan, 31-26. The Wolves snatched most of their rebounds on defense where they outrebounded the Red Devils, 21-10.
Scoring in double digits were Chris Dixon with 20 points, followed by Ahmed Mahgoub’s 15 points and Brycen Dean’s 12 points. Dixon shot eight-of-14 from the field while Mahgoub went five-of-nine and Dean went five-of-seven on field goals.
“Chris and Ahmed have been playing well in the early going. I think we will lean on them for scoring throughout the year, but we still need other guys to step up and be more efficient,” Shaw said. “We were without two key pieces, Brayden Thompson and Tyren Shelley, who both bring a lot of experience to our team. Hopefully we will have them both back soon.”
Allen hosts Southeast on Friday at 7 p.m.
