The Allen Men's Basketball team picked up a tough home win over the Fort Scott Greyhounds Wednesday night in a very physical defensive battle. In the early going Fort Scott's defense gave Allen some fits as the Greyhounds swarmed to the basketball and forced several Red Devil Turnovers. Fort Scott would control much of the first half of play, and even led by as many as 16 points. The Red Devils would end the first half on a run which closed the gap down to just 8 points at the break 26-34.
In the second half the Red Devils came out with much greater intensity, and while both teams continued to struggle to find any offensive rhythm the Red Devils slowly chipped away at the Fort Scott lead. Allen switched to a full court press most of the second half which gave the Greyhounds some problems and caused many second half turnovers that led to some easy points for the Red Devils. The Allen defense stepped up when needed and go timely defensive stops to help Allen steal the lead in the final minutes of action.
Brayden Thompson had a defensive steal and run out dunk that fired up the Allen crowd, and shortly later Zabriel Boozer cut along the baseline for a dunk to keep the momentum on the Red Devil side. In the end, the Allen defense held Fort Scott to only 11 second half points to help Allen secure the victory.
Cedric Rollerson led the Red Devils in scoring with 14 points. After struggling much of the first half, Rollerson made several key plays in the second half to help Allen finish the game strong. Freshman point guard Brandon Lawrence had another good game as he finished in double figures with 10 points. Ed Wright and Brayden Thompson both finished with 8 points.
With this win Allen improved to 16-4 overall on the season, and 5-0 in KJCCC action. The Red Devils are now ranked 20th in the latest NJCAA polls. Next the Red Devils will travel to KCK on Saturday for a matchup with the Blue Devils who are also undefeated in Conference at 4-0.