CONCORDIA — The three-and-a-half hour ride back from Concordia undoudtedly seemed even longer for the Allen Community College Red Devil basketball teams after both squads blew early leads against Cloud County Community College on Wednesday night.
The Red Devil men jumped out to a 47-41 lead at halftime, but the T-Birds roared back in the second half by outscoring the Red Devils 55-42 after intermission and earned a 96-89 victory.
The Red Devil bench was stellar in building a lead for Allen and trying to keep them in the game.
Jah-Kobe Womack and Shon Sanders combined to score 38 points off the bench. Womack had a team-high 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the three-point arc. Sanders added 17.
Sophomore point guard E.J. Garnes also had a strong game with 18 points and seven assists.
Sophomore sharp-shooter Quentin Blaue was the only other Red Devil in double figures with 10 points.
The win improves Cloud’s overall record to 12-4 and 8-4 in the Jayhawk Conference. Allen’s record is now 7-9 overall and 4-8 in the conference.
WOMEN
The Red Devil women jumped out to a 23-16 at the end of the first quarter, but the second quarter was a disaster for the visitors.
Cloud outscored Allen 20-8 in the second quarter to take the lead at halftime.
The Red Devil struggles continued in the third quarter as the T-Birds outscored the Red Devils 21-10 and took a 57-41 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The fourth was fairly evenly played, but the damage had been done and Cloud cruised to a 77-59 win.
Sophomore forward Damonica Franklin led the Red Devils with 14 points.
Freshman point guard Kamri Summons was the only other Allen player in double figures with 10 points and despite her small stature, she was able to lead the team with six rebounds.
