Osei-Bonsu’s double-double leads No. 8 Trailblazers to Region 24 road win at Kaskaskia

CENTRALIA, Ill. – The No. 8-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers opened their Region 24 schedule Tuesday night at Kaskaskia College and came away with a 70-56 win behind 19 points and 12 rebounds from VU freshman Michael Osei-Bonsu (Bolingbrook, Ill.).

The Trailblazers struck early against the host Blue Devils, jumping out to a 20-11 lead midway through the first half.

Vincennes would get their largest lead of the half at 11 before Kaskaskia rallied back to head into the halftime break trailing 32-25.

Osei-Bonsu got the Blazers going early, heading into the locker room with a team-high 10 points and seven rebounds at the break.

VU opened the second half strong with a quick 5-0 scoring run before Kaskaskia responded back on their home floor to cut the VU lead down to just two points.

Vincennes would then prove why they were ranked inside the top-10 in this week's NJCAA Division I poll with a 19-3 scoring run to take a 63-45 lead.

The Blue Devils would attempt another comeback but were unable to eat into the deficit as the Trailblazers came away with their first Region 24 win of the season 70-56.

"I think this was just one of those games where you had to stay focused," VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. "When we were focused and intense, I thought we had the advantage. We let up a little bit and Kaskaskia is going to keep gnawing at you. They are going to set all of those inside screens and keep trying to attack the rim on you."

"I think we are still learning what it takes to be tough enough to finish consistently against contact at this level," Franklin added. "We are a new team that hasn't been through these things. I think there were some plays where we could have finished and didn't which would have gotten us over the hump. We kept getting to that hump where I thought we were going to extend them out a little bit. But they are going to fight. When you get up by nine or 10, that other team is really going to grit their teeth and really fight at that moment and if you let up, inevitably it's going to bounce back. We haven't quite learned that yet."

"I thought at the start of the second half we were ready to come out and take them out," Franklin said. "Then we got up by about 12 and they bounced back. Kaskaskia got really tough-minded on their inside screens and we got a little relaxed. Then we started fighting back. From the time we put Devawn in and had Devawn and Kris out there and played a little smaller, I thought the group that we had out there started to fight through those screens better. We got a little more determined to not let their little point guard go down hill to his right hand and the game changed."

"I thought we got a little bit better action on the inside on some of our screens with Devawn and Kris being a little quicker," Franklin added. "Then we got Michael back in there later on for another run. Once we went to those groupings, I thought we were a little quicker and sharper. We were a little lower and tougher on defense against ball screens and the game turned."

VU was led by Michael Osei-Bonsu who completed his double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Freshman Kale Gaither (Madisonville, Ky.) ran the point guard position well on his way to 12 points and five assists for the Blazers.

Sophomore Caleb Johnson (N. Preston, Nova Scotia) rounds out the VU scorers in double figures with 11 points and a team-high three steals.

Freshman Kris King (Washington, D.C.) came off the bench to add nine points, six rebounds and four assists and sophomore Shilo Jackson (Indianapolis, Ind.) ended with eight rebounds and a team-high three blocks.

"Michael and Kale are both true freshmen," Franklin said. "They are having to learn on the fly and they are doing a good job, but they are going to do a better job later when they really learn and have been through it. They are still making freshman mistakes because sometimes you still don't know. It's difficult to explain to people that it's a different kind of intensity when you are out there playing at this level."

"I think they are still going through some of that," Franklin added. "There will be spots where they are good and there will be spots when they are not. But they are doing as good as can be expected out of freshmen just being thrown out there and playing the schedule that we have played these last 22 days. We've played seven legit games and that's hard to do in 22 days as a freshman to win them all, which they have. I'm proud of them for that and I obviously thought those guys were key tonight."

"I thought Caleb Johnson was also key for us," Franklin said. "There was a point when we had Devawn, Kris, Caleb and Kent all out there giving us size all over the floor. We may look a little small inside, but they are interchangeable and they are all able to, when they want to, to sit down and cover. Also, at that point Kale was running the point and he had one of his better spurts of the game. I think he also did better at that point on the offensive end because those guys were running into the actions quicker and as a point guard that helps you."

"I think Caleb Johnson has been pretty consistent for us all season," Franklin added. "He's probably our most consistent guy. Every night he is giving us a pretty good performance. But we fought on the road, had our ups and downs. Kaskaskia is going to beat some people in there. They have good athletes and good quickness and they are going to do things to teams that most people now don't, they are going to try to hurt you inside. They have some decent size and athleticism down there to do it. There will be a lot of people that lose in that gym. So, for us to grind that one out as our first time on the road, with a new team, obviously it wasn't perfect but overall, I'm proud of them. I'm pleased."

The Trailblazers will return to the P.E. Complex floor this weekend, Saturday, Nov. 26 when VU plays host to Volunteer State Community College from Gallatin, Tenn. Tip-off time Saturday is set for 7 p.m. eastern.

"I just hope these guys have learned the feel of the intensity," Franklin said. "When you go to work, drill and be good, you know how hard you have to work. You know what it feels like and you can start to see that taking on. That should be one of the benefits of the schedule that we have played. We've been in real basketball games, with real intensity and real physicality. Handling real cuts and real screens and real defenses. There's just no way to explain that to people and for them to really know what you are talking about until they've experienced it."

"The line I always use is that we want to win while we learn," Franklin added. "So far, we have been able to do that. But you want to learn because you want to get better. Right now, this is a great time for us. Thanksgiving is always that way. We are usually on the road playing somewhere. We had a classic fall through, but we were able to get Volunteer State on Saturday and Southwest Tennessee at the end of the semester instead. But we are still going to treat this like we were going somewhere, except we will be at home."

"We will still be having Thanksgiving dinner at my house as a team," Franklin said. "We'll have an earlier practice on Thursday and a later practice on Friday so those guys that are really close to home can go home for Thanksgiving. I think it's a great opportunity if we use it correctly to come together as a team. Get some real work in and maybe get to where we get our shot going a little bit. Hopefully have a pretty good time at my house Thursday night. Eat some good food and get ready to play a Division I ball club."

"Volunteer State has won a couple of games in a row, so hopefully we can get some fans out," Franklin added. "I think our team is, obviously, worth watching. We are going to need some atmosphere Saturday. We've had some great crowds so far. I know there are high school games and our band won't be there, so we need people to come out and try to help us out Saturday. Then we will jump right back into Region play next Wednesday and will be in Region play pretty much until Christmas break. It's going to get real and luckily for us, it's been real. So this should be something that we are used to by now and are able to build on and start to really get some rhythm."

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (70): Tasos Cook 1-7 0-0 2, Kale Gaither 5-10 2-2 12, Caleb Johnson 4-5 3-4 11, Michael Osei-Bonsu 9-12 1-2 19, Shilo Jackson 2-5 0-0 4, Trenton Johnson 1-2 0-0 3, James Locke IV 0-1 0-0 0, Devawn White 3-4 0-0 6, Kris King 3-5 3-5 9, Ryan Oliver 0-2 0-0 0, Kent King 2-9 0-1 4, Karyiek Dixon 0-1 0-0 0, Team 30-63 9-14 70.

VU (9-0, 1-0) – 32   38 – 70

Kaskaskia – 25   31 – 56

Three-point goals: VU 1 (T. Johnson). Rebounds: VU 39 (Osei-Bonsu 12). Assists: VU 13 (Gaither 5). Steal: VU 7 (C. Johnson 3). Blocked shots: VU 8 (Jackson 3). Turnovers: VU 15. Personal Fouls: VU 22. Fouled out: None.