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.”