The Allen Men's Basketball team opened up the regular season with two losses in the Red Devil Classic. The first matchup on Friday November 1st was against NOC Tonkawa. The first half was back and forth, and the Red Devils carried a 1 point lead into the halftime break 31-30. In the second half the Red Devils would continue to go back and forth with the Mavericks.
Allen held a slight advantage midway through the second half when Tonkawa went on a quick 7-0 run on back to back 3 pointers by #23 Demaree King and a floater in the paint by #10 JD Ray. Allen would try to keep it close, but struggled on the offensive end to close out the game. The Mavericks would go on to win the game 78-64. Malik Hardmon would lead the way in scoring with 21 points and 5 rebounds. Tyus Jeffries and Canaan Daniels were the only other Red Devils in double figures scoring with 11 each.
On Saturday night the Red Devils faced off with Labette. Much like the night before, in the first half both teams exchanged leads, but the Red Devils were able to push out to a 6 point half time lead as #10 Canaan Daniels knocked down a 3 right before the intermission. Early in the second half the Red Devils would continue to control the game and even led by as many as 10 points with under 10 minutes to play. In the final minutes of the game Allen suffered costly turnovers and poor shot selection, while Labette was able to convert and made big shots late in the game.
Allen finished the night with 21 turnovers, and gave up 21 offensive rebounds to the Cardinals who were able to sneak out a tough win. Malik Hardmon led the way for the Red Devils with 20 points and 15 rebounds to earn his first double-double of the season. Point guard Cedric Rollerson chipped in 12 points and dished out 4 assists. Tyus Jeffries scored 17 points, and Brandon Gray scored 11 points on 2-4 shooting from 3.
The Red Devils will be back in action at home Tuesday November 5th against Ottawa University JV. Game time is set for 7:00 PM.