Allen Community College’s basketball teams may not want to take a Christmas break.
Both squads continued their solid pre-holiday play Monday with a pair of victories.
The Red Devil men won their third in a row and fifth in six games with an 88-54 victory over the Ottawa University junior varsity squad. Allen’s women, meanwhile, pushed their record back over .500 at 7-6 with a 52-40 victory.
The Red Devil men will play twice more before their Christmas break, hosting Oklahoma A&M at 7 p.m. Thursday. The men and women then head to Johnson County on Saturday for a doubleheader.
The Red Devil men were able to pick up their defensive intensity after a lackluster first half that saw them take a 40-31 lead into the break.
“It was a tale of two halves,” Red Devil head coach Andy Shaw said. “No defensive intensity in the first half.”
Allen took an early 9-2 lead, but then allowed the visiting Braves to trade baskets through the rest of the opening 20 minutes.
“At halftime, I really challenged the guys to defend and not let them score so easily in the paint.”
Mission accomplished. Allen limited Ottawa to 23 points in the second half. The Braves were held scoreless over the last four minutes of the game.
Cody Sluder led the way for ACC with 17 points and six rebounds.
“It was good to get him going,” Shaw said. “We need him to play well for us to be at our best.”
Joining Sluder in double figures were Tyrone Jones with 16, Ben Uno with 12 and Alex Keiswetter with 11.
“Tyrone really affected the game attacking the rim in transition,” Shaw said.
Oklahoma A&M, like Allen, carries a 9-4 record into Thursday’s game.
“They present a good test for us,” Shaw said. “We must compete for 40 minutes for us to get a victory.”
No statistics from the women’s game were available by press time.
