The Allen Men's basketball team lost a nail bitter to the Seward Saints 68-66. Both teams struggled scoring in the early going, as both defenses were able to come up with defensive stops. Midway through the first half Allen was able to grab a lead, but Seward would close the half on a run and the Saints took a 1 point lead into halftime (28-27).
In the second half, Allen would respond early and regained the lead. Allen was able to push the lead to as many as 11 points midway through the second half. It seemed like Allen had all of the momentum going their way, until several turnovers by the Red Devils led to easy scores for Seward. The Saint quickly erased the 11 point lead and the teams would battle back and forth in the final minutes of play. With a little over a minute left to play, Allen was down 4 points, but a corner 3 by Trez Hankins, followed by 2 made free throws from Perry Carroll knotted the score at 66 apiece. With the shot clock turned off the Saints had the last possession, and #13 Reggie Miller drove the lane with under 5 seconds left. Malik Hardmon stepped over for the Red Devils and it appeared to be a clean block, but a foul was called giving Seward two free throws with 2.3 seconds remaining in the game. Miller would go on to make both free throws.
Allen took their time on the inbound pass and got the ball to Perry Carroll on the run. Carroll launched a half-court shot, which was near identical to the shot he made against Labette, and Caroll nearly made the shot, but unfortunately for the Red Devils it hit the backboard and front of the rim and fell off. Perry Carroll led the way in scoring with 19 points. Trez Hankins scored 14 points. Malik Hardmond and Nathan Williams each scored 12 for the Red Devils. This loss moves the Red Devils to 10-2 overall on the season, and 2-1 in KJCCC play. Next, the Red Devils will travel west to Colby for a Sunday game, and then play Dodge City on Monday night to wrap up the first semester of play.