No. 9 Trailblazers stay close but fall short in NJCAA Top-10 showdown

VINCENNES, Ind. – The No. 9 Vincennes University Trailblazers faced their toughest test this season Wednesday night at the P.E. Complex in No.  4 John A. Logan.

VU battled all night and had the game tied with under seven minutes to go before the Volunteers pulled away late to pick up the 78-68 win over Vincennes.

This game lived up to the standard of a top-10 NJCAA showcase, with the two Region 24 squads trading baskets throughout.

John A. Logan grabbed the early momentum with a seven-point first half lead, before VU quickly erased this lead and would outscore the Vols 19-9 to take a 29-26 lead.

The score was tied six times in the opening half and the lead changed hands nine times in the opening 20 minutes of play, including at the buzzer when VU sophomore Caleb Johnson (N. Preston, Nova Scotia) sank a three to give the Trailblazers a 39-38 halftime lead.

Vincennes looked to make their move in the second half and built a four-point, 52-48 lead midway through the second half.

John A. Logan would rally back to even the game at 60-60 as we headed into the under seven minutes media timeout.

Coming out of this time out, the Volunteers took their game to another level, going on an 11-1 run and grabbing all of the momentum from the big Vincennes crowd.

Vincennes would battle to the end but were unable to put together a scoring run to get back into it as John A. Logan closed out the game at the free throw line and picked up the 78-68 win over the Trailblazers.

The lead changed a staggering 16 times Wednesday night, with the score being tied 10 times in this tough top-10 NJCAA matchup.

"I thought that the whole second half was a little bit sketchy," VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. "We did some silly things on the floor and there were some silly plays during the course of that half. We've just got to get better. To close games at this level, you have to be able to stop the ball. We preach it every day. We've been preaching it for the last 26 years and we've been really good at that. That's why we've been really good and this game came down to that."

"They stopped the ball," Franklin added. "We've got to get better at playing downhill. That doesn't necessarily mean scoring, sometimes it's about making plays because late in the game, that's huge. We have to get better at stopping the ball. When we stopped the ball, fought it and veered it off tonight, we were fine. They are very difficult to guard. There is probably no greater challenge in doing that than playing them. There were times tonight where I thought we did okay, but I thought down the stretch in the second half they just tried to go right at you."

"We also can't go into the second half and shoot nine for 26," Franklin said. "I don't know how hard you have to come in and work and push yourself because they are going to make it tough on you. That's what this is. But when it gets tough on you, you can't go nine for 26. I've got to do a better job. I thought we had a pretty good plan for them. I thought we had a pretty good idea. I thought we got them out of their defensive principles in the first half and had them scrambling a little bit and I thought we could have continued. They stuck to the wings. Our insides needed to step up a little harder. We've got to get a little crisper with our passing and we've got to find the right guards that are going to go downhill."

"Then we are going to have to run our actions a little harder," Franklin added. "In the first half I thought we ran our actions hard and then in the second half we got sloppy. If you are not going to be able to go by people and create things when space situation come up, which you have to do some when they are just hugging the wings, somewhere in there you have to make them pay. Tonight came down to they were better at that, at this point, than we are at this point. But they are probably better at that than anybody and we pushed it right to that edge tonight. We made some undiscipline plays in the second half. We got in a hurry and got excited instead of staying focused and made some decisions and plays that if we are going to beat them next time, in that moment, we can't do."

"We were in that moment tonight," Franklin said. "I've got to do a better job of getting us ready to do that. But there's nothing out there tonight that says we are not one of the 10 best teams in the country. I think if you watch the game tonight, we are one of the 10 best teams in the country. But if you want to be the best team in the country and certainly one of the top three or four, that was there in front of us to take it and obviously we're in position and we've got a few weeks left but the guys are going to have to push over that edge. If they want to stay where we are, then we will probably be a really good team and finish second in the District. We'll probably still get to go to Hutchinson if we finish up these last few games right. We'll probably win a game or two our there, maybe. But we won't end up with the big trophy."

"But I think if you are us and you look out there, I don't think there's a dominant team in the country, I think there are good teams, this Logan team is probably the best team in the country right now," Franklin added. "They have been the last few months. I thought we had every chance in the world to beat them tonight. So we can get our level to that. Now we have to get one more significant notch. They've got to hear some of the stuff that I'm saying. I'm going to continue to push the same things that we've pushed throughout my career and we are going to get after it. But we are at a time now where the players are going to have to decide, 'do I want to be that guy'. Then their teammates are going to have to decide what are we going to set as the standard around here. Are we going to be a good team? Or do we want to be the best team. I think they know after this experience tonight and all the experiences so far this season, tonight galvanizes it, the old man at the end of the bench told us exactly what was going to be important and what the edge is that we've got to get over. We can get over it. It's there. But now are we going to grit our teeth and then am I going to look over at the guy next to me and say 'hey, you are going to have to pick it up'. If we do that, then we have a chance to be right there as the best team in the country. That's what I take from tonight, and I hope that's what our guys takeaway from this. We can do that, but it's going to be hard. We have to embrace hard and we have to want to embrace hard."

"This group of guys have, for the most part, done some great things," Franklin said. "We're 22-3 now and obviously a legitimate top-10 team if you watch us. But now it's how bad do you want to be the best. That's what we are going to find out these next few weeks."

VU was led offensively by Caleb Johnson, who continues his streak of scoring in double-figures at 19 straight games after scoring 15 points Wednesday night. Johnson would also lead the Blazers with three assists.

Freshman Kris King (Washington, D.C.) came off the bench to play some big minutes in the second half on his way to 13 points and eight rebounds.

Sophomore Tasos Cook (Columbus, Ohio) was the third VU scorer to hit double figures, ending with 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Sophomore Shilo Jackson (Indianapolis, Ind.) just missed a double-double, ending with nine points and seven rebounds, while freshman Michael Osei-Bonsu (Bolingbrook, Ill.) continues to be a presence on the glass, leading VU with 13 rebounds. This is the fourth straight game Osei-Bonsu has finished with at least 13 rebounds, including his career-high of 17 last week at Shawnee.

"I thought we did a really good job tonight on Lewis," Franklin said. "I thought that wasn't the issue. The problem tonight came from their two little guards. I thought pretty much everywhere else we got the job done at the level that you need to get it done. There were times, particularly in the first half, I thought we did a good enough job there. But down the stretch we didn't and we've got to find the answer."

"The problem is the answer on that is that individually we have to get down there and work defensively," Franklin added. "It's the perfect example of that individual coming in here and working and taking that on and take it personal. You can't get beat straight line going down that hill. When we didn't, we were more than successful tonight. When we did, obviously that was the ball game and it's not going to be different the next time you see them in that moment. It's going to come down to how hard we work and how good we get at that and I don't think we've got guys that have done that quite as well as they need to. Now they know it."

The Trailblazers will look to bounce back this weekend when VU travels to Mattoon, Ill. Saturday, Feb. 11 for a Region 24 showdown at Lake Land College. Tip-off time Saturday is 4 p.m. eastern.

VU defeated the Lakers earlier this season 80-75 in the Physical Education Complex behind 20 points by Caleb Johnson.

"We had a great atmosphere here tonight," Franklin said. "We had a great crowd. Hopefully we have the same types of crowds these last few games down the stretch. Our team needs it and I think our team has got an opportunity to do something special. Tonight just reinforces that for me. We just have to push over that last edge and having crowds like this in here certainly helps."

"We've just got to push harder to get over the edge," Franklin added. "Right now, we are at the edge. Do you want it bad enough? That's it."

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (68): Caleb Johnson 4-7 6-6 15, Michael Osei-Bonsu 3-7 1-1 7, Shilo Jackson 3-7 3-5 9, Tasos Cook 3-11 4-8 10, Ryan Oliver 1-3 0-0 2, Trenton Johnson 2-5 0-0 4, James Locke IV 0-1 0-0 0, Devawn White 1-1 1-1 3, Kale Gaither 1-7 2-2 5, Kris King 5-11 2-2 13, Karyiek Dixon 0-0 0-0 0, Team 23-60 19-25 68.

John A. Logan – 38   40 – 78

VU (22-3, 10-3) – 39   29 – 68

Three-point goals: VU 3 (C. Johnson, Gaither, Kr. King). Rebounds: VU 39 (Osei-Bonsu 13). Assists: VU 13 (C. Johnson 3, Cook 3). Steals: VU 2 (Gaither Cook). Blocked shots: VU 3 (C. Johnson, Jackson, Cook). Turnovers: VU 12. Personal Fouls: VU 26. Fouled out: VU (Oliver, Osei-Bonsu).