A pair of dunks heralded the end of a double-overtime slugfest as the Allen Red Devils pulled away from rival Neosho Community College, 87-78, Monday night.
With the win, the Red Devils snapped a two-game slide and pulled ahead in Jayhawk Conference standings. They now sit in third place with contests against conference foes Highland and Kansas City Kansas Community College slated for Wednesday and Saturday.
“It was truly a team win with five guys in double figures,” Allen coach Patrick Nee said. “It’s hard to explain to a new team the intensity, and what this rivalry means to coaches, and especially to fans.”
Heading into the second overtime, ACC fans erupted as the Red Devils inched away on a quartet of consecutive defensive plays. 
The Red Devils took the lead on a 3-pointer by freshman guard Moses Stephenson and a drive from sophomore forward Jayson Demcher that secured two more.
Dunks by Stephenson and freshman forward Sheen Saunders allowed Allen to pull away, which seemed poetic justice considering Neosho dunked on Allen multiple times in the first half.
“We changed to a few different sets in the second OT, but our defense got four stops in a row, and that allowed us to get in transition,” Coach Nee said.
At the half, Neosho County was ahead 35-31.
The teams were tied 68-68 going into the first overtime.
After the first 5-minute overtime they were tied at 72 points apiece.
Davis Jr. was Allen’s leading scorer with 21 points, followed by 13 points from Demcher, who had a double-double along with freshman forward Sheen Sauders. In rebounds, the pair had 10 each while Saunders also posted 12 points to tie Stephenson for third in team scoring.
Freshman guard Nyjah Noyes had 10 points and freshman forward Logan Shockley had 9 points. Saunders and Davis Jr. each had four assists, but Davis’s five steals set him apart on the stat sheet.
With the win, the Red Devils improved to 12-8 overall and 3-2 in the Jayhawk Conference with recent losses to Fort Scott and Johnson County. They host Highland (14-8, 2-3) Wednesday, then face KCKCC (12-11, 1-4) Saturday. Coach Nee hopes the Red Devils, and their fans, can carry over their momentum from Monday’s contest.
“It was a good locker room after the game, and we will enjoy it for the next 24 hours, but we’re back at it again tomorrow with the same attitude,” Nee said.
“It was electric in the gym. As loud as I have ever heard it before. A shoutout to our Red Devils family, but mainly to our students. They willed us to victory.”
Tip-off for Wednesday’s game is at 8 p.m.
