DANVILLE, Ill. — Try as they might, the Red Devils could not get back over the hump Friday.
The Allen Community College basketball team saw its memorable season of firsts come to an end with a 69-65 loss to the Parkland (Ill.) Cobras.
Friday morning’s defeat ends Allen’s first-ever foray in the NJCAA-Division II National Tournament in the consolation semifinals. The Jayhawk Conference and Region VI champions finish with a 28-7 record.
As has been their style all season, the Red Devils did not go down without a fight.
Despite trailing by as many as 11 points in the second half and by seven with under a minute left, Allen had one last flurry in a matter of seconds..
Ahmed Mahgoub’s layup led to Nick Whittick’s steal and a 3-pointer by Ed Wright with 25 seconds remaining to pull the Red Devils to within 63-61.
But Parkland held its composure. The Cobras’ Sean Ealy hit a pair of free throws before Whittick scored on a layup for Allen to keep things tight at 65-63.
But Parkland put the game away by breaking the Allen press, leading to a Jamil Hardaway layup. Wright was able to pull Allen to within two one last time on a layup in the waning seconds.
Big Parkland’s Keion Gill effectively ended any suspense with a pair of free throws with 2 seconds left. An Allen turnover on the inbound play allowed Parkland to drain the clock.
The late flurry capped a game with a pair of key momentum swings.
Allen got the early jump with a pair of Ed Wright II 3-pointers. Cedric Rollerson’s trey at the 16:40 mark of the first half put the Red Devils in front 13-4.
But Parkland seized the upper hand from there, outscoring Allen 13-1 to take the lead for good, 16-14, on Marcus Johnson’s layup at the 12-minute mark. A pair of Johnson free throws with 7 minutes left in the half capped a larger 23-5 run for the Cobras.
“We came out with great energy to start the game,” Allen head coach Andy Shaw said. “Offensively, we tried to battle back, but we made too many mental mistakes throughout the game. We had some untimely turnovers. There were a lot of little bobbles where things didn’t seem to go right for us.”
Parkland’s lead grew to 46-35 with 14:11 left in the game before buckets by Mahgoub and Tanner Meyer pulled Allen to within seven.
The lead yo-yoed between seven and nine, with a pair of key turnovers on back-to-back possessions proving costly to the Red Devils inside the 2-minute mark.
“We had the right intentions, but too many sloppy turnovers — things we don’t normally do — really hurt us.”
