GREAT BEND — The road was unkind to Allen Community College’s basketball teams Saturday.
The Red Devil men kept things close, but Barton’s offense kept the Cougars in front in the second half to win 93-84.
In women’s action, Barton got off to a strong start, leading 53-15 at halftime en route to a 105-42 win.
Both Red Devil teams will have another lengthy road trip on Wednesday, when they travel to the Yukon Territory (actually, it’s Goodland) to take on Northwest Kansas Technical College.
In the men’s contest, Barton threatened to pull out to a double-digit lead in the first half before the Red Devils closed to 42-40 at the break.
A similar pattern followed after intermission, with the Cougars leading by 10 before ACC sliced the deficit to one with 5 minutes remaining.
“Barton always seemed to have an answer on the offensive end,” Red Devil head coach Andy Shaw said.
Several key shots kept Barton on top, Shaw said. Plus, the Cougars hit an impressive 23 of 26 free throws.
Cedric Rollerson led ACC with 22 points and four assists. Ed Wright had his best game in a Red Devil uniform with 16 points. Feddie Word chipped in with 12 points, while Amadou Traore had 11 points with six rebounds.
Barton had five in double figures, led by Jaheim Holden with 27.
Allen is now 2-4 on the season, and 1-1 in KJCCC play
ALLEN’S women were without the services of both point guards, head coach Rachel Janzen noted, adding ACC (0-4 and 0-2) was “sluggish” and “not ready to play” early..
Barton jumped to a 10-2 lead and never looked back.
Melody Wilfong drilled a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter for Allen, but it was not enough as turnovers mounted, leading to several Cougar layups.
Wilfong stayed hot from 3-point land in the second half, and Adji Mbaye gave Allen a spark after the break, Janzen said.
Wilfong led with 16 points, while Mbaye and Addie Towe each added seven. Iola native Madisyn Holloway chipped in with five.
