No. 6 Trailblazers connect from long range in win to close out Kiwanis Classic

VINCENNES, Ind. – The No. 6-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers connected on 12 three-pointers Saturday night at the Physical Education Complex in route to a 65-52 victory over Columbia State Community College in the final game of the 2023 Kiwanis Classic.

The Trailblazers got off to a slow start in a very defense-heavy first half, with VU able to grab an 8-5 lead before later fully breaking away with a 9-0 scoring run to take a 25-14 advantage.

Columbia State would answer back before the end of the first half however, using a quick 5-0 run to cut the VU lead back down to six, before sophomore Kent King (Washington, D.C.) closed out the first half with a steal and a buzzer beating three to give the Blazers a 31-22 lead heading into the locker room.

Coming out of the break the Chargers battled tough again, using a 13-2 scoring run to even the game at 38-38 midway through the second half.

This would be as close as Columbia State would get to taking the lead back however, as the Trailblazers launched a 17-1 scoring run to build the largest lead of the game at 55-39.

Columbia State would look to cut into the VU lead one more time down the stretch but were unable to cut the deficit back down to single digits as the Blazers closed out the weekend with a 65-52 win in the final game of the 2023 Kiwanis Classic.

“We were fortunate tonight, to be real honest,” VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. “I thought Columbia State out fought us and out toughed us. But we were just a little bit better and got a good performance from Kent King off the bench. He hit some shots and made some plays and got 13 rebounds, on a night when nobody else really seemed to want to obtain the ball, Kent did.”

“I probably got on Kent a little too much tonight about rebounding because he made a couple of mistakes early and ran past a few and Columbia State got a little five-point run because he missed a couple of assignments,” Franklin added. “But overall, he was the one who went and got the ball.”

“Now we’ve got to get a little fire going under Kris and get him going in there and rebounding the basketball,” Franklin said. “He’s had three rebounds in about 70 minutes of basketball these first two games. That can’t happen from a three-man playing for Vincennes. He gives us some good things but he’s got to get physical.”

“I said on the postgame radio show, tonight, it’s my fault,” Franklin added. “My bad. I’ve tried to work on a lot of things during the preseason and I thought we had some veteran guys back that would establish what is was to rebound, play tough and fight through screens and holding themselves in the post. We haven’t gone crazy with working on that stuff because we had some other things we had to get done. But this week will be a little different, I can assure you. Because this time, it’s my bad, it’s not on the players, this one’s on me. I didn’t do a very good job of establishing who we are and who our basketball family is and what we are about. I thought we had enough old guys back that we understood. I will make sure between now and Friday that I do everything I can to get across the importance of our physicality, our toughness, our box outs, our post ups, how low and tough we play with the ball, all those things. Because tonight we got whipped for 15 offensive rebounds and anyone who has ever played for me knows right now how much I’m seething about that. That just doesn’t happen to us.”

“Credit to Columbia State,” Franklin said. “I have great respect for them. The come up here every year and take it on. Great coach. Great program. They will win 20 games again this year. They were upset this weekend because they felt like they didn’t play all that great yesterday. Great job by them. They played hard, that’s why we bring them in here every year. We know that’s what we are going to get and tonight we got it. Luckily for us they didn’t hit very many shots because if they had, we very well could have gotten beat tonight because they beat us in the toughness game. When that happens, I have no problem saying it. But I have a problem living with that, so we are going to see if we can do something about it.”

Vincennes was again led offensively by redshirt freshman Lebron Thomas (Bishopville, S.C.) who connected on five of nine from behind the arc to finish with a game-high 21 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Kent King came off the bench to pick up his first collegiate double-double, finishing with 14 points, a team-high 13 rebounds, four assists and a team leading three steals.

Sophomore Kris King (Washington, D.C.) matched his twin brother with 14 points Saturday night, while leading the Blazers with five assists.

Sophomore Karyiek Dixon (Enfield, London, UK) was the fourth VU scorer in double-figures Saturday night, finishing with 12 points, five rebounds, a pair of blocks and showing off some shooting range of his own to connect on two of three from three-point range.

“I thought Kent gave us some really good things,” Franklin said. “There were some moments where we had to get him settled and calmed down a few times when he gets too wired up and nervous. But I thought he played a good ball game. I thought he had a pretty good ball game last night. He probably deserves to be in the lineup and if he has a great week at practice he probably will be. He got 13 rebounds and I don’t know if we can win if he doesn’t do that because we weren’t getting many. Columbia State was just shooting until they scored.”

“Lebron gutted it out tonight,” Franklin added. “He came out with an injury for a little bit and had to hobble through it. And if he can’t hobble through it, I don’t know if we win. But he did hobble through it and gave us good numbers. He didn’t have the same explosiveness and all the things that he can do, but what he could do he did and that was key for us.”

“Kris got to playing a little bit better in the second half,” Franklin said. “He settled in a little bit once they caught us and tied the game. We’ve just got to get him more physical. Now that he’s playing at the three, his physicality has kind of gone away a little bit, so we’ve got to get that back. Particularly on the glass. But he’s doing good things.”

“We’ve got to get more from our inside game,” Franklin added. “We really thought those guys would be key factors for us and right now we are not getting enough. We got into some foul trouble but a lot that was just smacking down on the ball, being out of position and not aware. We just did stuff that gets you in foul trouble because you weren’t ready and live and doing what you were supposed to be doing. There’s no excuses there, we’ve just got to do a better job.”

“Karyiek had moments tonight,” Franklin said. “He had some moments where he did some really good things, it’s just getting it consistent all of the time. He still zones out some. I’ve got to get him to be on all of the time. When he’s on, he’s pretty good. When he’s low and live and his mind is in it, he’s sharpe, he does good things. And when he doesn’t do good things is when he zones out and gets passive. So we’ve got to see if we can get him more. But he had some good moments that were key for us.”

“End of the day, we did enough to win,” Franklin added. “This will be a good win if we can learn from it. I think we were fortunate to get out of here with a win. When you give up that many offensive rebounds, when you have more turnovers than the other team, that means you didn’t physically dominate the game and so now you’re fortunate and we’ve got to be better than that. That’s not how we’ve made our bones.”

The Trailblazers will look to take advantage of a full week of practice ahead of next weekend’s loaded McDonald’s Classic at the Physical Education Complex.

The weekend slate for the McDonald’s Classic is packed full of Nationally ranked teams and teams that have goals of making deep runs at the NJCAA National Tournament in March.

Vincennes will square off against Richard J. Daley College Friday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. eastern before turning around and facing No. 25-ranked Monroe College Saturday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. eastern, with No. 4-ranked John A. Logan College serving as the fourth team next weekend.

Other results from the 2023 Kiwanis Classic include Shawnee Community College winning over Schoolcraft College 63-62.

“We try to put the best product in the JuCo world on and I think next weekend could be that,” Franklin said. “With Monroe, us, Daley got a win the other night and is playing better. Logan is going to be Logan and you get a chance to see all of those guys here over two nights. Three teams in us, Monroe and Logan, that certainly have aspirations of still being around when they are playing Elite Eight games. So you are going to get a lot of Elite Eight type of stuff. None of us three are going to be playing at quite that level right now, but those are three teams that aspire to.”

“I don’t know how it gets much better than that,” Franklin added. “I have great appreciation for Wally Nowakowski and McDonald’s for helping us do this. They support it and sponsor it. We need those things to help and he stepped up and did it. We had another sponsor before and we needed someone to step up a couple of years ago and he did. He’s done it for a couple of years now and we’ve reupped again. So we are very appreciative of that. It helps us to be able to put this on for everybody.”

“We need to get these stands more full,” Franklin said. “We need to get people out here. We are putting a product out here that when you are bringing these types of teams in there to play, for a town this size, that’s a pretty big deal. The players that have come through here and the guys that will be here next weekend. I hope that people come out here next weekend and fill the gym. Make some noise, so when people leave here, they say Vincennes has the best atmosphere and Vincennes is the best place to go and play.”

“That’s really what we should get done,” Franklin added. “Hopefully the fans can help us with that because it’s not going to be that kind of environment if they are not in here. If they aren’t in here making noise, we can do everything else, but if we don’t have that, people don’t leave here with that same taste. Why wouldn’t this place be rocking next weekend? You’ve are going to have three of the best teams in the country and you are going to have a matchup between two of them each night, plus Daley got a win to start their year, so we’ll see where they are at. But Friday you are going to see two heavyweights play in Logan and Monroe and then you get to see the home team. The next night, the home team plays Monroe in another heavyweight bout. I don’t see how that’s a bad night either night and I don’t know how you get a whole lot better around the country.”

“Hopefully we do a good job of rattling the chains and getting everybody to come out next weekend,” Franklin said. “We get the band playing and we appreciate all of that, the band, cheer team and dance team. They all come out here and do a great thing for us. It’s not like this everywhere in JuCo. So, for the fans, you are getting an experience that’s better than most of the NCAA Division I games. So come out here and make some noise and get in it. Get on this ride and see if you can’t help me get them to play harder and get them more excited about getting down in the stance better. But you are going to see as good as you can see for the second weekend in November in JuCo and better than you would see if you went to basically any low-major Division I game in the country, those games are not going to be as good as this.”

“I’ve coached in the highest of Division II that you can and low to mid-major Division I basketball,” Franklin added. “I can tell you the basketball that will be played out here next weekend on this floor, the players, the talent, the intensity that these teams are going to bring with so much on the line. Because we only get 24 at the big show in March and these games next weekend are going to be on the resume on if you get to go. It’s kind of like college football. These games next weekend matter, so hopefully people come out and get involved. I can’t imagine a better sporting event happening in the area better than what we’ve got next weekend. Hopefully everyone comes out and makes a bunch of noise and we appreciate McDonald’s so much for helping us with it. Now I’ve got to get my team to get out here and play some ball.”

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (65): Kris King 5-13 2-6 14, Michael Osei-Bonsu 1-3 0-0 2, Karyiek Dixon 3-5 4-4 12, Ryan Oliver 0-2 0-0 0, Lebron Thomas 6-12 4-6 21, Damarien Yates 1-8 0-0 2, Gerard Thomas 0-4 0-0 0, Alphonse Muteba 0-0 0-0 0, Kent King 5-8 1-2 14, Victor Lado 0-1 0-2 0, Team 21-56 11-20 65.

Columbia State – 22   30 – 52

VU (2-0) – 31   34 – 65

Three-point goals: VU 12 (L. Thomas 5, Ke. King 3, Kr. King 2, Dixon 2). Rebounds: VU 36 (Ke. King 13). Assists: VU 16 (Kr. King 5). Steals: VU 5 (Ke. King 3). Blocked shots: VU 5 (Dixon 2). Turnovers: VU 18. Personal Fouls: VU 20. Fouled out: Osei-Bonsu.