Quick start propels Red Devils

They made the home crowd sweat it out a bit more than they had hoped, but Allen Community College’s men picked up their second win in as many games Monday night to start the 2013-14 season.
Head coach Andy Shaw said the Red Devils’ 89-78 victory over visiting Johnson County was beneficial in two aspects: He saw several ways the team can still improve, and Allen still got the win.
The Red Devils led by as many as 26 in the second half before the Cavaliers kick-started a 29-11 run with a mix of torrid 3-point shooting and a bit of Red Devil impatience.
“We know we have to eliminate some of those mistakes and learn how to play with a lead,” Shaw said. “Last year, we didn’t have a lead like that very often, so some of the guys have to adjust.”
Johnson County’s Trevor Myers drained consecutive 3-pointers before BiQuavious Sturgis scored on a putback for an 8-0 run as the Cavaliers closed to within 82-74 with just over 2 minutes remaining.
Allen broke the run out of a timeout when Tray Fountain fed Alex Miller for a driving layup late in the shot clock. A Johnson County turnover preceded Tyrone Jones’ bucket off a Josh Sweet assist to put the lead back at 12, 86-74.
Miller and Jones went 3 of 4 free throws in the last minute to seal the win.
After struggling at times from the line — Allen missed 5 of 7 at one point in the first half —the Red Devils righted their ship down the stretch, hitting 10 of their final 12 charities.

ALLEN’S Sluder came off the bench to drain a pair of 3-pointers as the Red Devils embarked on a 20-3 run to take control midway through the first half.
Alex Keiswetter’s 3-point play, followed by Raheem Tyner’s free throw put Allen on top 25-10 with 9:11 left in the half.
The Cavaliers deployed a zone — in part because of early foul trouble — and clawed back to within five, 36-31, on a pair of Myers free throws.
But Allen closed the half with a five-point burst, courtesy of a Keiswetter basket and Jones’ buzzer-beating 3-pointer, giving the Red Devils a 41-31 cushion at intermission. The Jones shot came off an assist from Fountain.
“We’ve shown that when we move the ball and work our offense, we can be pretty efficient,” Shaw said. “There were stretches tonight where we got sped up and we weren’t as patient with the ball.”
The Red Devils came out firing after the break. Tyner scored 10 in less than four minutes. Sweet’s 3-pointer pushed the lead beyond 20 at 62-41.
“Cody hit a couple of big shots early, and Raheem really did a good job inside, getting a lot of points off of rebounds,” Shaw said.
Sluder’s trey with 9:55 left in the game put the lead at 26, 71-45, before Johnson County began its comeback.
“Give Johnson credit,” Shaw said. “They’re a talented team, and they did what they needed to get back into the game. They started hitting their shots.”
Still, it was not enough to overcome ACC’s balanced scoring. For the second consecutive game, Allen had five players in double figures.
Tyner led the way with 19 points, followed by Jones with 15, Sluder with 13, Miller with 11 and Sweet with 10. Sluder grabbed a team-high eight boards; Tyner had seven. Sweet and Miller both had three assists.
The Red Devils forced 24 turnovers on the night. Jones had three steals.
Preston Oakes’ game-high 22 paced the Cavaliers. Sturgis scored 15, Pat Jones 13 and Marquan Chaney 11.
Allen will take its 2-0 record on the road to the Coffeyville Classic over the weekend. The Red Devils take on Barton at 5 p.m. Friday and Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa at 5 p.m. Saturday.
“Barton will be one of our toughest challenges so far,” Shaw said. “I’m excited for Friday.”
Johnson (31-47—78)
Allen (41-48—89)
Johnson (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): 0-0-2-0, P. Jones 2/1-6-5-13, Baker 0-2-3-2, Bachert 1-0-3-2, Oakes 6/2-4-2-22, Sturgis 7-2-3-15, Myers 0/3-0-2-9, Henry 1-0-2-2, Chaney 3/1-2-4-11, Bronson 1-0-1-2. TOTALS: 21/7-15-27-78.
Allen (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Keiswetter 2-4-3-8, T. Jones 4/1-4-1-15, Tyner 5/1-6-7-19, Sweet 1/2-2-1-10, Miller 4-3-0-11, Uno 2-0-1-4, Burnes 0-0-1-0, Fountain 3-3-209, Sluder 2/3-0-3-13, Stockard 0-0-1-0, Watson 0-0-2-0. TOTALS: 23/7-22-18-89.