INA, Ill. – The No. 4-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers punched their ticket to the 2024 NJCAA Division I National tournament Friday night by winning over Wabash Valley College 73-67 to claim VU’s first District tournament championship since 2018.
VU sophomore Michael Osei-Bonsu (Bolingbrook, Ill.) also took home some hardware of his own, earning tournament MVP honors after scoring 56 points and grabbing 36 rebounds over the three-game tournament.
Vincennes Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin also received the 2023-24 NJCAA Division I Region 24 Coach of the Year award Friday night.
Friday’s game lived up to the big game hype with a Championship on the line, with every possession feeling extremely important all night long.
The Trailblazers were the first to strike out of the gates, opening up the game on an 11-3 scoring run before Wabash Valley would answer back with 11 straight to take a 14-11 lead.
Vincennes would grab the lead back later in the half at 24-23 before Wabash Valley answered with a 6-1 scoring run.
The Trailblazers were able to close out the half strong, evening the game at 29-29 after a pair of free throws with under a minute remaining.
This would be the score at the end of the first half as the two teams headed into the locker room deadlocked at 29-29 after the first 20 minutes of play.
The upset-minded Warriors looked to grab the early momentum in the second half, building a 36-31 lead before VU would capitalize on a 9-0 scoring run to take a 45-39 lead.
Wabash Valley continued to fight and got the game back to even at 52-52 before later taking the lead back at 59-58.
VU would answer back with seven unanswered to take a 65-59 lead and later get their largest lead of the night at 71-63.
Vincennes was able to hold on to this lead as the Blazers ran down the clock and closed out the 73-67 victory, capturing their first Region 24/Central District tournament Championship since 2018 and earning them a spot in the NJCAA Division I National tournament for the 11th time in 12 years.
“I thought Wabash did a great job,” VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. “They had a great gameplan and we knew what the gameplan was going to be. It was exactly what we thought they were going to do but they executed it. I thought we had a chance early to really establish ourselves and we got sloppy. Then we acted like the pressure and the momentum got to us and we got out of character.”
“But we did what we had to do,” Franklin added. “We leveled up and handled it. They made some tough shots in the second half. But that’s going to happen when you are going up against somebody who is playing well. They had a big week, played two good ball games and now they are playing for their lives and we had to handle it.”
“Wabash Valley did a great job,” Franklin said. “They fought us. They battled us and they made us have to earn it. We weren’t hitting jump shots and we didn’t want to shoot jump shots and that’s exactly what they wanted. We’ll have to learn from that. It’s one of those little lessons, under pressure and all of those things that we have to handle. But we hit two big shots late and that was the difference in the ball game. Ryan hit one on one side of the court and Kent hit one on the other side and at the end of the game, that six-point difference, that’s really what it was. We had been looking for those things all night long, didn’t get it, but we got it there.”
The Blazers were led offensively by tournament MVP Michael Osei-Bonsu, who finished with another big double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds, his 11th double-double of the season and 17th of his VU career.
Sophomore Ryan Oliver (Antioch, Tenn.) also scored in double figures, ending his night with 15 points, seven rebounds and a team-high five assists.
Sophomore Kris King (Washington, D.C.) came off the bench to add 13 points on the night, including hitting a perfect seven of seven from the free throw line.
Freshman Lebron Thomas (Bishopville, S.C.) closed out his tournament with eight points and five assists, while sophomore Kent King (Washington, D.C) added seven points and a pair of steals.
Sophomore Karyiek Dixon (Enfield, London, UK) scored all seven of his points Friday night in the second half while also grabbing eight rebounds.
“This is a great win,” Franklin said. “Our guys have got to deal with a lot. We’re coming over here, traveling four hours round trip just on the bus, not counting the things like getting here early and all of the other schedule things that can really tax you. Three times in five days. It’s not fair and it’s not fair that we are put in that position and certainly not fair that the best team in the league, who earned that right is doing that. I strongly believe that and we are constantly put in a bit of an unfair situation.”
