IOLA, Kansas -- The Northern Oklahoma College Mavericks earned two wins in the Allen Basketball Classic in Iola, Kansas.
On Friday, the Mavs beat host Allen 78-64 and on Saturday beat MCC-Penn Valley 96-72.
Demaree King led the Mavs with 19 against Allen. King led the Mavs in rebounding with seven while JD Ray added 10 assists. Ray also added 15 points while Barron Tanner had 14 and Deaveon Bankston added 11.
Against MCC-Penn Valley, King had a game high 25 points followed by Tanner with 18, Malik Crawford 11, and Pipo Grafais 10. Grafais led the Mavs with eight rebounds while King and Ray had seven assists each.
Coach Donnie Jackson was pleased with the Mavs' effort.
"This was a great opening weekend for the Mavs," he said. "We were able to go on the road, in a loud environment, and find a way to pick up a road win. Allen has a good team. They are a lot bigger this year, and we had to withstand some big runs by them. Fortunately, our guard play of JD (Ray) and Demaree (King) finished the game off for us."
"In the second game, we played at 2 p.m. Saturday, so it was a quick turn around," Jackson said. "I challenged the guys to create energy in a quiet gym and to make them match what we were brining. Malik (Crawford) did an excellent job of starting us off and Barron (Tanner) and Pipo (Grafais) both played big off the bench."
"Wednesday at Cowley will be a big rival game," Jackson added. "They have an extremely talented team, are well coached, and play a style that we have not seen yet. We will need to take care of the ball and handle their pressure if we want to have any chance to win on the road in a hostile environment."
Tip off at Cowley is at 7:30 p.m.
Mavs 78, Allen 64
1 2--Total
Mavs 30 48-- 78
Allen 31 33-- 64
NOC--D. King 19, JD Ray 15, B. Tanner 14, D. Bankston 11, A. Lederer 8, A. Boykin 4, M. Crawford 3, T. Morgan 2, G. Grafais 2.
Mavs 96, MCC-Penn Valley 72
1 2--Total
Mavs 46 50-- 96
MCC 34 38-- 72
Mavs--D. King 25, B. Tanner 18, M. Crawford 11, G. Grafais 10, A. Lederer 5, JD Ray 5, A. Boykin 5, D. Bankston 4, S. Grisby 4, A. Gronigan 3, T. Starks 2, M. Berry 2, J. Wilson 2.