Allen rallies Lutheran over Harborfields

Achraf Yacoubou took a seat, Jordan Allen took a stand.

Yacoubou, the Villanova-bound senior guard, picked up his fourth foul with 4:24 remaining in the third quarter and the Long Island Lutheran boys basketball team trailing Harborfields by one. That's when Allen picked up the slack. The Hofstra-bound senior forward scored eight straight Lutheran points to close out the third quarter and he sparked a game-changing 18-1 spurt that launched the Crusaders to a 63-46 victory over the Tornadoes last night in a non-league game.

"We're a one-two punch. Teams try to get Ash in foul trouble, but I'm just as dangerous as he is," said Allen, who scored a game-high 22 points to help Lutheran improve to 7-0 and drop Harborfields to 3-2. "Ash is a big part of our offense and is an excellent defender. When he was out, I had lock down on defense."

Allen and his teammates did just that in the second half, turning a grinding, grueling, tight contest into a final score that was somewhat misleading.

"We didn't run anything crazy. Everything in that [18-1 run] was about defense creating offense," Lutheran coach John Buck said. "I think we wore them down."

With two of Harborfields starters playing with high fevers and little help off the bench, the visitors eventually succumbed to the Crusaders' relentless halfcourt man-to-man defense. "That's what we work on every day in practice," said Allen. "That and getting out in transition. That's how I got my points."

When Yacoubou - who scored 15 of his 20 points in the first half - went to the bench, Harborfields led 38-37. But K.J. Lee, who replaced Yacoubou, scored a layup off a turnover to put Lutheran ahead and then it was time for a little Air Jordan. Allen scored on a putback, then brought the crowd to its feet with a two-handed jam as he soared down the lane. A nifty reverse spin move and a layup in transition gave Lutheran a 47-43 lead after three.

SEE PHOTOSLong Island Lutheran 63, Harborfields 46

It was 49-44 when Yacoubou returned 1:26 into the fourth quarter and the hosts were rolling. Mike Storin, whose solid defense held Tornadoes point guard Lucas Woodhouse scoreless, nailed a three from the wing to make it 54-44. Allen scored on an offensive rebound and Yacoubou put an exclamation point on the rally with a thunderous one-handed slam, also in transition. Matt McLeod (15 points) hit three foul shots for Harborfields' only points of the final quarter.

"Once Jordan gets into the flow, he's very hard to stop," Buck said of Allen, a transfer from Bay Shore. "Once he gets going, he scores and rebounds in bunches. He gave us a great lift."