Allen Outlasts Indy in OT

Allen Outlasts Indy in OT

The Allen Men's Basketball team picked up their second straight win defeating Independence 101-98 in overtime. The Red Devils had a very impressive first half, as they quickly jumped out to a double digit lead early in the game. Freshman guard Tyus Jeffries had his best game as a Red Devil, and in the first half of play he went off for 18 points to help secure a large lead. In the first half of play Allen shot 54.5% to the Pirates 27% from the floor. The Red Devils would take a commanding 51-27 lead into the halftime break. 

In the second half, the Pirates came out with better energy as they quickly began to dig into the lead. The Pirates only made 1 of their 12 three point attempts in the first half, but in the second half they caught fire in large part to Sophomore Ricky Edwards who made 4 straight 3 point attempts to give Independence all of the momentum. The Pirate defense was much more aggressive in the second half as they trapped all over the court and forced Allen into several second half turnovers. Independence came all the way back and took a lead midway through the second half. The Red Devils would re-group and took advantage of the Pirates pressure defense by getting to the free-throw line 32 times in the second half.

Late in the second half Allen was able to push their lead back up to 10 points, but the Pirates again made a late run to keep things close in the final minute. In the final moments of regulation the Red Devils held a 3 point lead, but with only 1.4 seconds remaining Independence kicked the ball to their 6'9 center Jibril Harris and he knocked down the game tying 3 pointer.

In overtime the Red Devil were able to control the tempo and connected on 4 of 6 attempts, while the Pirates only scored 2 of 7 attempts. In the last 10 seconds the Red Devils again had a 3 point advantage, and the Pirates called timeout to set up their last chance to tie the contest. Fortunately, this time the Red Devils defense defended the 3 point line much better and Darius Love was able to block the final shot to give the Red Devils a great road victory.

Perry Carroll finished the game leading all scorers with 30 points on 16-19 from the free-throw line. Tyus Jeffries scored 25 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. Darius Love scored 17 points, Malik Hardmon scored 13 points, and Jamaal Clifton scored 11 points.

This win pushed Allen's overall record to 15-14, and 6-13 in KJCCC play. The Red Devils will finish out the regular season with Sophomore Night on Saturday vs rival Neosho County at 4:00 PM.