IOLA – The Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team dominated the final 7 minutes, 14 seconds of the game and passed its first road test of the new season in defeating the Allen Red Devils 70-57 on Tuesday night at Allen Community College.
The Red Devils erased a 12-point first-half deficit and had two single-possession leads in the second half. With the game tied a 50-all, the Blue Dragons (4-0) outscored Allen 20-7 over the final 7:14, getting nine points from freshman Anthony Thomas and six points from sophomore Mark Braden down the stretch.
“This is a tough place to play,” HCC head coach Steve Eck said. “We were putting them at the foul line. I decided to put five guys out there who were my favorite defenders, we went man to man and I told them to go finish it off and they did.”
Braden scored a game-high 19 points, scoring 12 points in the second half. The reigning Jayhawk West Player of the Week was 6 of 11 from the field and he added seven rebounds and two steals.
Thomas had 18 points, scoring 15 points in the second half.
Freshman A.J. Spencer came off the bench to score 12 points and freshman Alex Davis added 11 before fouling out with more than 11 minutes remaining in the game.
The Blue Dragons (4-0) shot 43.5 percent from the field (20 of 43), shooting only three 3-point goals all night, making one. The Dragons were 29 of 45 from the free-throw line. HCC started the second half hitting only 5 of its first 13 free throws, but finished strong from the stripe knocking down 16 of its final 17 attempts at the line.
The Blue Dragons were out-rebounded for the first time this season 34-32. HCC committed 13 turnovers, but only two were committed in the second half.
Both teams were strapped with foul trouble with 57 total fouls being called. In addition to Davis fouling out for Hutchinson, freshman Michael Spease fouled out, while Thomas had four.
“Without key players out there, I thought the guys did a nice job off the bench in the second half,” Eck said.
Jeff Romeus led three Red Devil players in double figures with 12 points. Canon Fields had 11 points and Drelan Triplett had 10. Fields had a double-double with 10 assists.
Allen shot 36.7 percent for the game (18 of 49), including 4 of 17 from 3-point range. The Devils were 17 of 28 from the free-throw line. Allen committed 21 turnovers.
The Blue Dragons hot off to a good start, but would have been better if it weren’t for some early free-throw woes. The Dragons were 8 of 15 from the foul line in the opening half.
HCC held Allen (0-4) to just two field goals over the first 12:12 of the game, but led only 19-7 with 8:33 to play in the half on a Spencer three-point play. The Dragons then went without a field goal for 6 minutes, 13 seconds and the Red Devils slowly chipped away at the deficit. A Triplett trey cut the Dragon lead to 21-17 with 4:57 to play in the half.
The Blue Dragons led 25-20 at halftime.
A Fields three-point play with 15:52 remaining in the second half completely wiped out what was a 12-point HCC advantage from the first half. The Dragons then scored on three-straight possessions – a layup by Davis and a layup and drive to the hoop by Braden – to go up 37-31 with 14:30 to go. The Red Devils battled back and took its first lead at 43-42 on two Romeus free throws with 11:15 to go.
There were three lead changes and five ties from that point. Thomas Daniels’s free throw with 7:14 remaining tied the game at 50-all.
“The key was that we didn’t turn the ball over in the second half,” Eck said. “They pressed us in the second half and we took care of the ball.”
Hutchinson limited Allen without a field goal for a stretch of 7 minutes, 29 seconds and only three over the final 10 ½ minutes of the game. HCC took control with a 13-3 run. A key point in the run came with the Dragons leading 58-53 and sophomore Ryan Schultz completed a three-point play on a nifty Spencer assist. The run was capped off by a Braden steal and layup to go up 63-53 with 1:43 to play in the game.
The Blue Dragons will now play host to Neosho County and Marshalltown on Friday and Saturday at the Sports Arena in the Hutchinson Clinic Classic.
GAME NOTES – HCC is 10-0 vs. Allen in games played in Iola. … The Dragons have won five straight over the Red Devils. … HCC is 29-7 all-time against Allen.