Panthers pull away in second half

CHANUTE — The way Coach Andy Shaw figures it, Allen Community College’s men have been playing “just well enough to get ourselves beat.”
Wednesday’s story followed a familiar pattern.
Nagging scoring droughts, coupled with other “little things” such as giving up offensive rebounds on free throws, kept the Red Devils winless in Jayhawk Conference play.
Host Neosho County Community College utilized a 10-2 run spanning the first and second halves to take the lead for good in a 69-64 victory.
The loss drops Allen to 4-13 on the season and 0-5 in Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division play.
“We had some dry spells, and we allowed them to get some easy buckets on second-chance points,” Shaw said. “We’re not doing the little things we need to be successful.”
Neosho County’s run turned a 32-27 Red Devil lead into a 37-34 lead by the 17:11 mark of the second half.
Allen did not lead again.
An Andrew Rountree putback closed Allen to within 39-38 when the Panthers responded with a 6-0 run, capped with a Mark Gray free throw at the 10:59 mark.
The lead reached double digits two minutes later on a Jalen Jones field goal and peaked at 12 points with a little more than six minutes left.
Cameron Blue and Seth Walden connected on 3-pointers about a minute apart with 4 minutes remaining in the game.
Walden’s trey — his third of the game — closed the gap to 57-53.
Neosho County left a glimmer of hope down the stretch, missing four free throws over the final 90 seconds, but on two of those the Panthers claimed the offensive rebound to retain possession.
The game went back and forth throughout the first half.
DeAndrae Barnette’s 3-pointer with 5:45 remaining in the half gave the Red Devils the lead for the first time. Walden drained a pair of treys in the final minute of the half, his second giving Allen a five-point lead, 32-27.
“Seth got the start and hit a few big shots for us,” Shaw said. “Ce’Zanne Burnes came off the bench to give us some quality minutes. He had an assist and a bucket in the first half to get us going.”
Blue led Allen with 16 points, while Rountree had 14 points, Barnette followed with 11 and Walden had 10. Fountain led Allen with eight rebounds and seven assists. Rountree had three steals.
The Red Devils lost the services of Bryce Schippers with an ankle injury in the second half.
“We’re hoping he’s back by Saturday, but we don’t know yet,” Shaw said.
Neosho County held a 47 to 36 advantage in rebounds. The Panthers claimed 13 offensive boards.
Neosho County had four players in double figures, led by Keegan Oyugi’s 13. Jalen Jones had 11 and Jeremy Nolen and D’Marco Smith scored 10 apiece.
Allen resumes play at home at about 4 p.m. Saturday against Coffeyville.
Allen (32-32—64)
Neosho (29-40—69)
Allen (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Rountree 4-6-2-14, Burnes 1-0-0-2, Fountain 1-2-2-4, Schippers 1/1-0-0-5, Uno 0-2-3-2, Keiswetter 0-0-3-0, Barnette 1/3-0-5-11, Blue 3/1-7-1-16, Walden 0/3-1-1-10, Walter 0-0-2-0. TOTALS: 11/8-18-19-64.
Neosho (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Jones 4-3-4-11, Gray 2-3-5-7, Dummars 1-1-4-3, Magley 1-0-2-2, Smith 3-4-1-10, Oyugi 6-1-2-13, Stoppel 3-0-0-6, Garland 2/1-0-1-7, Nicholas 0-0-3-0, Nolen 5-0-0-10. TOTALS: 27/1-12-22-69.