Allen, Bachman Lead No. 8 Express Past Wayne County 71-69

By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Detroit, Mich.---Andy Bachman (North Side/Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Markese Allen (Crockett/Detroit, Mich.) led the No. 8 Express men's basketball team past Wayne County Community College 71-69 on Monday.

A back-and-forth game saw the Express up 52-46 with just over ten minutes left in the game. Wayne County answered with a 7-0 run to take a one-point lead and set up an exciting finish with 8:21 left.

Bachman answered that run with a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession. Later, Wayne County tied it at 57-all with 6:15 left. Bachman answered again by grabbing a defensive rebound, drawing a foul and hitting two free throws.

Wayne County took the lead again, at 60-59, before Bachman drained another 3-pointer with just over five minutes left. With 3:36 remaining in a tie game, Bachman came up big again with a tough lay-up to put his team back up two.

With less than a minute remaining and the Express clinging to a one point lead with the ball, Bachman missed a 3-point attempt, but Allen grabbed the rebound, was fouled and hit two free throws to put the Express up 70-67 with 40 seconds left.

Wayne County answered with a driving lay-up out of a timeout to trim their deficit to one. They would then foul Edmond Early Jr., who hit one of two at the line to give the Express a two point lead with 13 seconds left. 

After a timeout, Wayne County missed a 3-pointer, grabbed an offensive rebound and missed an easy lay-in from the front of the rim at the buzzer to give the Express their second win in two games.

Bachman finished with a game-high 14 points, along with a team-high eight rebounds. He added two assists and one steal. The sophomore forward scored 10 of his points in the second half.

John Murry (North Central/Indianapolis, Ind.) scored 10 of his 13 points in the first half, while adding three rebounds. Allen, meanwhile, had 10 points, four rebounds (three offensive), two assists and two steals while playing in front of a packed hometown crowd.

Shaakir Lindsey (Teaneck/Teaneck, N.J.) had a team-high three steals along with seven points, while DeVondre Peoples (Consortium/Detroit, Mich.) had a team-high four blocks, along with six rebounds - also playing in his hometown.

Bikramjit Gill (Our Ascension of the Lord/Toronto, Ontario, Canada) added eight points and seven rebounds for the Express, who shot 26-for-57 (45.6 percent) from the field overall.

Wayne County produced twice as many offensive rebounds as the Express (26-13), but came up on the short end as they shot only 29-for-78 (37.2 percent) from the field.

The Express are now 2-0 this year heading into this weekend's Owens Tip-Off Classic in the SHAC, where they will take on Delta College at 8 p.m. on Friday. The other semifinal matchup will feature NJCAA D-I Monroe College vs Kellogg Community College.