No. 5 Trailblazers ride fast start to Region 24 win over Lake Land

VINCENNES, Ind. – The No. 5-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers made a few changes to the starting lineup Saturday afternoon against Lake Land College from Mattoon, Ill. and the Blazers jumped out to an early 16 point first half lead.

The Lakers battled back to cut the deficit to six at halftime but the Trailblazers were able to go wire-to-wire to pick up the 66-58 victory over Lake Land.

VU got off to an excellent start Saturday afternoon, scoring the first seven points of the game and later using a 10-0 scoring run to build a 20-4 advantage midway through the first half.

Lake Land would battle back and gain some momentum offensively, using an 11-1 scoring run to cut the deficit down to six, where the VU lead would hold throughout the rest of the first half.

The Trailblazers held on to a 28-22 lead heading into the locker room at the break.

Vincennes looked to get off to another quick start to begin the second half, growing the lead back to double digits at 34-24 before the Lakers again cut it back to six.

VU would add to the lead again to increase the margin to 45-34 before the Lakers answered with six straight points to get back within five.

The Trailblazers’ largest lead of the second half came at 59-47 before the Lakers converted a four point play and got back within six.

Vincennes would put the game away at the free throw line down the stretch, with Lake Land running out of time for another comeback as VU closed out a 66-58 victory over the Lakers.

“We played pretty good defense,” VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. “We’ve won two games this week and shot 35 percent twice. National best in the country, which we’re usually right there, is somewhere between 36 and 38 percent at our level and NCAA Division I. We’re shooting worse than that. So how do you win when you are shooting worse than that? You have to hold the other team down better than that and that’s what we’ve done.”

“We’ve played pretty good defense both games this week and I think our defense is getting better,” Franklin added. “We’ll have some mental breakdowns here and there, but if we can clean those up a little bit. I think since the Olney game our defense has been pretty good. We’ve held teams down into the 50s and the low 60s, with shooting percentages down. So there’s good things. When you shoot 35 percent and win, you have to do a lot of good things.”