It was a refrain all too familiar for Allen Community College’s faithful Monday evening.
Cloud County’s Ibrahim Drane connected on an inside bucket with 13.8 seconds remaining, the decisive points in a 70-69 victory over the hardluck Red Devils.
Monday’s loss marked the fifth time this season Allen has lost on a late bucket.
The Red Devils’ attempts to tie the score went for naught when Allen’s Shaikim Jenks lost control of the ball as he drove between T-Bird defenders Zavien Smith and David Acosta with 4.6 seconds left. The ball was corralled by Cloud’s Savian Edwards who hit both free throws, pushing the lead out of reach at 70-66.
Allen’s Freddie Word drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Red Devils, who twice held 10-point leads in the second half, but could not fend off the hot-shooting visitors from Concordia. Cloud shooters went 6 of 10 from 3-point range after intermission to aid the comeback.
The game started slowly, with the Red Devils scoring only six points in the first nine minutes before Ed Wright hit a 3-pointer and a layup for Allen to spark the offense.
Word hit a pair of free throws with 3:13 left in the first half to put Allen on top for the first time, 23-22. Amadou Traore’s dunk in the waning seconds put ACC ahead, 29-26 at the break.
Word paced the Red Devils with 17 points and five assists, while Traore had 16 points and six rebounds. Wright followed with 10 points. Brayden Thompson chipped in with four steals.
Cedric Rollerson scored nine points, dished out four assists and had two steals before exiting the game in the second half with an apparent leg injury.
Allen (6-16 overall and 5-15 in Jayhawk East play) now await word on their first round opponent in the upcoming Region VI playoffs, which begin Monday.
Cloud (26-44—70) (FG/3pt): Smith 3/3-2-3-17, Edwards 1-2-0-4, Reed 1/3-0-0-11, Beech 1/1-0-1-5, Peralta-Garcia 2/1-0-2-7, Drame 8/3-0-2-19, Athian 1-0-1-2, Acosta 2-1-3-5. TOTALS: 19/8-8-12-70.
Allen (29-40—69) (FG/3pt); Jenks 0-0-1-0, Rollerson 3/1-0-1-9, Word 5/1-4-3-17, Wright 1/2-2-1-10, Shelley 0/1-3-1-6, Sylvester 1-0-0-2, Thompson 0-0-2-0, Traore 8-0-3-16, Mahgoub 4-1-4-9. TOTALS: 19/5-10-16-69.
