The Allen Community College men’s basketball team failed in its attempt to knock off a second-consecutive ranked opponent at home on Tuesday when Garden City Community College was able to escape Iola with a 89-62 victory.
“They are a very talented team and I told my kids that they were,” Allen coach Andy Shaw said.
The Red Devils were able to hang around early with the No. 25 team in all the land and held a 10-9 lead after a Jah-Kobe Womack three-point basket.
Womack finished the game with a team-high 15 points.
Garden City answered that bucket with a 6-0 spurt to take a 15-10 lead and the Red Devils would never hold the lead again.
After Allen’s Quentin Blaue hit a three-pointer to cut the margin to 19-16, Garden City erupted on a 25-5 run, during which Allen’s only points came from the free throw line as they were unable to connect from the field.
“In the first half, I thought that their energy level was a lot higher than ours and I thought they were playing with greater intensity than us,” Shaw said. “Usually that isn’t the case for us. We are a team that plays very hard, but tonight we didn’t have it… I wasn’t pleased with our effort as a team.”
Red Devil guards E.J. Garnes and Shon Sanders added quick baskets before the end of the half, but it was too little too late as Allen took a 46-25 deficit into the locker room.
Garnes finished the game with 12 points and Sanders added seven.
The second half played out much like the first half and Allen was able to trade baskets with Garden City early, but the strength of the Buster frontline eventually wore down the Red Devils big men, who were suffering from foul trouble early with Ithello Cross only contributing 10 minutes due to foul trouble and Ahmad Winston only getting 14 minutes with his own foul issues.
“We got to find a way to keep Ithello and Ahmad in the game,” Shaw said. “They are both foul-prone right now.”
UP NEXT
When the Red Devils return from their Thanksgiving break, they will travel to Butler Community College for a game on Monday before hosting Barton Community College on Wednesday.
