No. 8 Trailblazers bounce back in a big way with wire-to-wire win over SWIC

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers were looking for a bounce back win in a big way Wednesday night after falling in overtime on the road last Saturday and falling to No. 8 in this week's NJCAA Division I National Rankings.

The Trailblazers came out looking to make a statement against the Southwestern Illinois College Blue Storm inside the Physical Education Complex and were able to come away with a very strong wire-to-wire 88-57 win.

Vincennes got off to a quick start Wednesday night, jumping out to a 9-2 lead early in the game.

VU would continue to grow this lead, increasing the advantage to double digits with six unanswered points to take a 29-15 lead.

The Trailblazers finished the first half strong, even after a SWIC basket at the buzzer, with the Blazers holding a big 46-31 lead at the break.

Vincennes looked to put the game on cruise control early in the second half, using a 10-0 scoring run to grow the lead to 67-39 midway through the second half.

SWIC would look to make a late comeback with an 8-0 scoring run but were only able to cut the Trailblazer lead down to 21 before the Blazers answered back with a 7-0 run to put the game away.

Vincennes emptied the bench and closed out a very strong 88-57 victory over the Blue Storm.

"I thought we were going to play well coming into tonight," VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. "I told our guys after practice yesterday that this is the best I've felt about our team all year long. I thought we practiced better. Across the eyes you could see it, you could feel it a little bit. We had to come to terms with what happened Saturday and those things have been happening all year. But this time, I thought our guys needed to come to terms with it and I thought we were in a good place."

"We moved Dink into the lineup and hoped that he could open up some things and I thought he did," Franklin added. "We moved some people around. I had Kris playing mostly as a stretch four to help open the floor up. Those things happened, so I thought it was a good effort on our part. We'll have to have a better effort on Saturday."

The Trailblazers were led by a career night by freshman Damarien Yates (Somerville, Tenn.) who connected on six three's, the most by a VU player this season, on his way to a career-high 24 points on the night.

Freshman Lebron Thomas (Bishopville, S.C.) ended his night with 12 points and five rebounds, while sophomore guard Kent King (Washington, D.C.) got the Trailblazer offense going early, hitting three of three from behind the arc in the first half to finish with 11 points, five assists and four rebounds.

Sophomore Victor Lado (Louisville, Ky.) came off the bench to score in double figures for just the seventh time in his VU career, ending his night with 11 points and five rebounds.

Sophomore Kris King (Washington, D.C.) was the fifth VU scorer in double-figures, coming off the bench to add 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Sophomore Michael Osei-Bonsu (Bolingbrook, Ill.) battled foul trouble all night but responded to hit every shot he took, connecting all three field goal attempts and hitting an and-one free throw to finish with seven points and nine rebounds in just 12 minutes of action.

Sophomore Ryan Oliver (Antioch, Tenn.) also had a big all-around game finishing with a team-high nine rebounds, seven assists, three steals and five points.

"I thought Dink was aggressive tonight," Franklin said. "He shot a number of shots out there that went in. We hope he keeps doing it again on Saturday. He's talented, that's why we moved him into the lineup. We've been moving him over to the three spot these last few weeks trying to get him ready for this, felt like it was time and he played well."

"It was a shame to not get to see Michael play a whole lot," Franklin added. "I thought he was effective when he played. I got my first technical because Michael starts the game with two fouls in the first minute when he's trying not to touch anybody. We took the ball to the basket on the other end with no call when there was a lot more contact there than Michael had and I think Michael gets fouled all the time."

"We don't ask for fouls," Franklin said. "He gets grabbed on his top shoulder and pulled down all the time. He picks up fouls with his hands up on defense and people going at his chest. So I'm going to defend him a little and tonight I did defend him. I'll do it again and I'll do it every time. If you want to call a foul with him you can call one every time down the floor because they can't guard him without fouling. He gets fouled every time and we don't cry about it, we just tell him to be stronger. I hope they let him play because he's the best inside player in the Region and he deserves to be able to play in late February and March games. So if someone wants to give me a technical for defending him, that's fine, I'll get them again."

"I thought the team was good," Franklin added. "I thought we were good across the board. I thought everybody tried to play and they were into the game and we were in control the entire way. I'm proud of them. I've told everybody that I've talked to about it, I thought we were ready to go after yesterday's practice and I haven't said that too many times this year because I had not thought that we had crossed that threshold. Now we'll see what we do coming back to practice tomorrow and Friday to get ready for this Saturday game. Whether it was Lebron, the King twins, Victor, I thought they all had part tonight. I thought they all did good things. We are still going to have to do better. We've got to get down in a stance better. I thought we got beat on some cuts and things that we are not going to be able to do against Olney and win. But it was an excellent effort by our men. I think they bounced back. It's all about learning, facing and accepting what happened Saturday."

"We didn't play that game the way that we wanted to Saturday," Franklin said. "I thought that we played with a tightness and a fear, a hope and wish instead of going out and attacking it. Tonight we didn't want to do that again. We wanted to step up and change and I thought that we did that tonight. I'm proud of them. I would be proud of them if we had won or lost if they did that. But I think if we continue to do that, I think we'll be hard to beat."

The Trailblazers will face another tough Region 24 test Saturday night inside the Physical Education Complex when VU hosts Olney Central College Saturday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. eastern as the two teams battle for the top spot in the Region 24/Central District standings.

Olney Central checked in this week as the top receiving votes team just outside the NJCAA Division I Top-25.

"We just want to build on tonight," Franklin said. "We've had a really good team and we've had a really good year. We've played a tremendous schedule and had good wins and all of our losses were understandable losses. One point, one possession games, three losses on the road at three places that very few people win against really good teams. We were disappointed because we felt that we could have done better but I have never thought that we have come all the way together and that's hard to do. It's just something that doesn't happen at the JuCo level when you snap your fingers. I thought that we have started to come together this week after that experience. We're pretty far down the road here and we've had some pretty solid discussions with people and I thought that we had turned the corner. That was my feeling after all of these years doing it."

"Now I hope that I feel the same way on Thursday and Friday," Franklin added. "If we do, then we will keep growing and we'll keep getting better. The sky's the limit for this team if they do it. That's what I want to see. Nothing more. Nothing less."

The Trailblazers will be without Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin Saturday night however, after Coach Franklin received two technical fouls and was ejected from Wednesday night's game midway through the first half and will serve a one game suspension for the ejection.

Longtime VU Assistant Coach Brian Davis will step in as the acting Head Coach of the Trailblazers Saturday.

"Our guys will have to be tough enough to handle it on Saturday because we've worked too hard to have somebody take this away from us," Franklin said. "Coach Davis did a great job tonight. He will do a great job on Saturday. Our guys will stand up and I expect that we will do really well."

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (88): Damarien Yates 9-16 0-2 24, Michael Osei-Bonsu 3-3 1-1 7, Karyiek Dixon 1-7 2-2 4, Ryan Oliver 2-7 1-3 5, Lebron Thomas 3-7 5-7 12, Gerard Thomas 0-1 2-2 2, Mathieu Nader-Kalombo 0-0 0-0 0, Alphonse Muteba 0-1 0-0 0, Kris King 3-9 4-4 10, Kent King 4-7 0-1 11, Victor Lado 5-11 0-0 11, Vilhelm Bodingh 0-0 2-2 2, Team 30-69 17-24 88.

Southwestern Illinois – 31   26 – 57

VU (23-3, 10-2) – 46   42 – 88

Three-point goals: VU 11 (Yates 6, Ke. King 3, L. Thomas, Lado). Rebounds: VU 51 (Osei-Bonsu 9, Oliver 9). Assists: VU 21 (Oliver 7). Steals: VU 11 (Oliver 3). Blocked Shots: VU 1 (Dixon). Turnovers: VU 12. Personal Fouls: VU 18. Technical Fouls: VU Coach – 2 (1 – 13:07, 1 – 11:12).