SALINA — It’s only fitting that a magical season for Allen Community College’s basketball team came down to one of the craziest, nail-biting, stomach-churning wins in school history.
The Red Devils on Saturday nailed down their first regional title in 98 years — yes, 98 — by storming from behind to stun Johnson County Community College, 74-72, to secure Allen’s first-ever trip to the NJCAA-Division II national tournament
The national tournament begins March 15 in Danville, Ill.
“I keep trying to pinch myself to make sure the outcome was the same,” head coach Andy Shaw said. “I’m a little bit still in shock, waiting for it to fully settle in.”
Allen made up a five-point deficit in the final 48 seconds, including Ed Wright’s three free throws with 12.5 seconds left to give ACC a 73-72 lead.
The Red Devils’ Ahmed Mahgoub followed with the defensive play of the game, drawing a charge from Johnson County’s Desi Williams, who was streaking upcourt to attempt a layup with 7.3 seconds on the clock.
With Allen getting possession, Cedric Rollerson was fouled with 5.9 ticks remaining. He hit the first free throw, but missed the second to set the stage for the heart-stopping finish.
Johnson County’s Tymer Jackson corralled the missed rebound and raced upcourt. He released a 3-point attempt from the right elbow with about 2 seconds showing.
The shot was way off the mark, but the Cavaliers’ Korey Jones was there for what appeared to be a tying putback as the buzzer sounded, to send the game into overtime.
But the officiating crew, which originally ruled the bucket beat the buzzer, took a second look at the replay, which is allowed in the regional championship round
After about 30 nerve-wracking seconds, the refs waved off the basket and took the points off the scoreboard.
Allen was the winner.
“They made the right call,” Shaw said. “I saw zeros before he got it off. But it was close. It was a millisecond too late.”
The ruling sent the sizable contingent of Allen fans into a state of delirium when they realized what the Red Devils pulled off.
“It was a little bit of shock, a little bit of surprise, a little bit of everything,” Shaw said.
THE ENDING was perhaps only too fitting for what already had been a memorable year, in which the Red Devils secured their first conference title since 1989, in large part by sweeping this same Johnson County team twice in a matter of three days to wrap up the regular season.
