BELLEVILLE, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers continued to climb in the National Rankings this week, moving up one spot to No. 3 in this week’s NJCAA Division I rankings.
The Blazers faced a tough defensive battle Wednesday night in their first test with this new ranking against Southwestern Illinois College.
The Blazers fell behind early but were able to battle back and pick up the 69-61 victory over the Blue Storm.
Vincennes got off to a slow start in Belleville with the Blue Storm capitalizing on a pair of VU early turnovers to take a quick 6-0 lead.
VU would get the SWIC lead down to two before Southwestern expanded it back to seven at 22-15.
The Trailblazers rallied late in the first half, scoring seven straight to take their first lead of the game with 2:44 on the clock at 28-27.
The two teams would trade baskets and end up heading into the locker room the same way they started the game, with the score even at 32-32.
After Southwestern scored the first four points of the second half, the Trailblazers looked to gain control of the game with seven unanswered to take a 39-36 lead.
VU would grow their lead to seven at 48-41 before the Blue Storm answered back to even the score at 48-48.
VU would then answer with a scoring run of their own, taking a nine point lead at 57-48.
The Vincennes lead would hold at nine until SWIC cut the deficit down to three at 62-59, before the Blazers again regained control of the game with a late 6-0 scoring run to take a 68-59 lead.
Vincennes would hold this lead and put the game away, picking up their 17th victory of the season and fourth straight Region 24 win by the final score 69-61.
