Huntsville, Ala.:  Despite a rally from a 2-0 deficit in the first period, the Havoc ran away with the score, getting just about every break possible, defeating the Thunderbolts 8-2 in Huntsville on Saturday night.  The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Sunday, January 22^nd against the Huntsville Havoc at 3:00pm CT.  For tickets, call (812)422-BOLT (2658), go to EvansvilleThunderbolts.com, or visit the Ford Center Ticket Office.

A pair of goals from Rob Darrar in the first half of the first period gave the Havoc a 2-0 lead, before the Thunderbolts rallied to tie it back up.  The first Thunderbolts goal was scored by Scott Kirton at 13:49, assisted by Hayden Hulton.  Following up was Cameron Cook, scoring at 17:49 from Aaron Huffnagle.  Unfortunately, the momentum did not carry over into the second period.  The Havoc scored five times in the second period to build up a 7-2 lead.  In the third period the Thunderbolts settled things down, only allowing one goal in the period and outshot the Havoc down the stretch, however that would be all for the Thunderbolts in the 8-2 defeat.

                Kirton and Cook scored one goal each.  Zane Steeves stopped 21 of 28 shots faced in goal, before being swapped for Sammy Bernard, who stopped 9 of 10 shots in relief.  These two teams meet again on January 22^nd at Ford Center.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball capped off a successful homestand with an 80-66 win over the University of Tennessee at Martin Saturday evening at Screaming Eagles Arena. The Screaming Eagles, who were 2-1 on the homestand, go to 10-9 overall and 3-3 in the OVC, while Skyhawks are 11-8, 3-3 OVC.  
 
USI took command in the first six minutes with a trio of eight-point leads, including an 8-0 explosion to open the game. UT Martin would put together a string of buckets to close the gap to one point at 14-13 and 17-16.
 
The Eagles took back the momentum with a 14-2 run after the 10 minute mark, hitting five-of-seven from the field to lead 31-18 with 6:56 left in the half. USI’s defense also played a big part of the run, holding UT Martin without a field goal for five minutes.
 
USI, whose largest lead of the half was 14 points (35-21), had to settle for a 39-29 margin at the break. Senior forward Jacob Polakovich (Grand Rapids, Michigan) paced the Eagles in the opening 20 minutes with 16 points on eight-of-10 from the field.
 
While the first half belonged to Polakovich, USI sophomore guard Isaiah Swope (Newburgh, Indiana) dominated the second. Swope dropped in 14 points second half points on four-of-five from the field, two-of-three from long range, and was near perfect at the line, going four-of-five.
 
Swope’s second half production would help USI maintain the double-digit lead throughout the final 20 minutes, increasing it to as many as 18 points, 80-62, with 1:13 to play. UT Martin would get the final four points of the game before USI closed out the 80-66 final.
 
As a team, USI dominated the boards for the second-straight game, outrebounding UT Martin, 43-33 overall and 31-10 on the defensive glass.
 
The Eagles had three players in double-digits on the scoreboard, led by the 21-point effort by Swope. Swope was seven-of-11 for the game from the field, three-of-six from beyond the arc, and four-of-five from the line. He also tied for the team-high with four assists.
 
Polakovich added three second half points and finished with 19 points in addition to completing his seventh double-double of the year with a game-high 12 rebounds. Senior guard Jelani Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 14 points, scoring nine in the second half.
 

Beacons win by score of 76-69

 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Valparaiso opened the second half on a 16-5 run and held off a late challenge to defeat the University of Evansville men’s basketball team by a score of 76-69 on Saturday afternoon at the Ford Center.

Five Purple Aces reached double figures with Yacine Toumi leading the way with 18 points, tying his career high.  Antoine Smith Jr. recorded 16 while Marvin Coleman II and Kenny Strawbridge Jr. tallied 15 and 12, respectively.  Smith paced the team with his top career total of eight caroms.  Valpo also had four double digit scorers led by Kobe King.  He led all players with 20 points and 9 rebounds.

“I thought it was a good match-up and we put ourselves in a position to win.  We had stretches at the start of the second half where we gave them easy baskets and got stuck offensively,” UE head coach David Ragland stated.  “Later in the game, we found our fight and worked to make our way back but credit Valpo.  We need to work harder, be committed and stick together.”

Gage Bobe got UE on the board with a layup and contributed on the defensive end as he drew a charge.  With the game tied at 4-4, Yacine Toumi hit a pair of free throws before finding Marvin Coleman II for a basket that gave the Aces an 8-4 lead in the opening minutes.  Valpo countered with eight in a row to go up 12-8.

Kenny Strawbridge Jr. put a temporary end to the run with a pair of free throws but the Beacons added five more to their lead to go up 17-10.  Still trailing by seven, the Aces stormed back to tie the game with nine minutes remaining in the half.  Toumi and Coleman had field goals while Antoine Smith Jr. capped it off with a three to knot the game at 19-19.  Evansville’s defense held Valparaiso scoreless for over four minutes as they missed seven shots in a row.

Consecutive baskets by Quinton Green broke the tie but with 3:45 left in the half, Antoine Smith Jr. hit his second triple to put UE back in front – 24-23.  The final minutes of the half belonged to the Beacons, who completed the period on an 11-4 run to go into the break with a 34-28 advantage.

Hitting five of their first six shots of the second half, Valpo pushed their lead into double digits for the first time at 40-29.  Three early triples saw the lead extend to 18 (55-37).  Evansville chipped away at the deficit with five in a row as the game entered its final nine minutes.  After the Beacons retook an 18-point lead (63-45), UE stormed back with seven in a row.  Coleman drained a triple while Strawbridge forced a turnover and took the ball the distance for a dunk to make it a 63-52 game with 4:44 left.

Following a basket by the Beacons, a pair of blocked shots on the defensive end led to triples for UE.  Smith and Strawbridge converted 3-pointers that made it a 65-58 score with 2:38 on the clock.  Inside the final minute, the Aces got within five but it was not enough to overcome the deficit with the Beacons taking the 76-69 victory.

Valpo shot 49.1% in the contest with the Aces finishing at 46.8%.  The Beacons finished the day with a 35-32 edge on the boards.  Evansville will be right back at it on Tuesday with a trip to Southern Illinois for a 7 p.m. game.

VINCENNES, Ind. – Vincennes University sophomore Cherrelle Newsom (Indianapolis, Ind.) has now hit 11 three-pointers in her last two games, hitting five at Lincoln Trail Wednesday night before adding six more Saturday afternoon in VU’s 93-75 win over Rend Lake College at the P.E. Complex.

Newsom’s 148 career three-point makes puts her fifth all-time in VU Lady Trailblazers program history and is quickly closing in on the top spot of 171 set by Ashley Buis in 2010.

The game got off to a back and forth start, with each team trading baskets before VU finally broke away with a 6-0 scoring run.

This would be the difference in the early stages of the game as the Lady Trailblazers held a 25-19 lead after the first quarter of play.

VU again looked to break the game open in the second quarter, using an 11-0 run to take a 40-23 lead midway through the period.

The Lady Warriors would answer back however, using a small scoring run to cut the deficit down to 13 heading into the halftime break at 45-32.

Rend Lake continued to work their way back into the game, cutting the VU margin to seven early in the third quarter, but Vincennes answered every comeback with a run of their own.

The Lady Warriors used a late 7-0 run in the third quarter to head into the final 10 minutes of play trailing 65-55.

Vincennes looked to close out the Region win strong in the fourth quarter, holding a double-digit lead throughout most of the final period, before using a 10-1 scoring run to take their largest lead of the game at 20 points.

Vincennes would pick up their fifth Region 24 victory of the season and 12th win overall by defeating Rend Lake College by the final score of 93-75.

“I thought we played decent defense, good enough to win,” VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Harry Meeks said. “We got off to a little bit of a slow start again, didn’t do a great job in the third quarter. We gave up some easy baskets. Rebounding in the second half was not to my liking.”

“We just need to play better,” Meeks added. “We need to play a little harder. We need to be more aggressive with our block outs. We need to call the shot, so we know when the shot has been taken and we can look around and grab the rebound. The little things like that we need to work on and we will continue to work on.”

“I thought the team played well as far as executing and doing the things well that we needed to do,” Meeks said. “We didn’t make that many errors handling the ball. We did a really good job offensively. Cherrelle got it going, making some threes which helped us jump away from them. This was a game where everybody got to play. We are going to need everybody to play and everybody to be a major contributor the rest of the season. The schedule is going to be tough going forward, we have Wabash Valley next week and that is going to be a really tough game for us. Before that we go to Southwestern Illinois, which is quite a trip and it’s in the middle of the week.”

VU was led offensively by Cherrelle Newsom who finished with a new career-high 27 points, including six made threes. Newsom would also lead the Lady Blazers with six assists and grab four rebounds on the game.

Sophomore Kennadi Harris (Columbus, Ohio) got started early and cruised to a 17-point, eight-rebound and four assist game. Harris would also stand out defensively, ending with three steals.

Sophomore Daylynn Thornton (Lafayette, Ind.) had a very efficient shooting night, ending with 15 points on just eight shots, four assists and a pair of steals.

Sophomore Chanice Willis (Champaign, Ill.) came away with her first career double-double Saturday afternoon after finishing with 12 points, 10 rebounds and a team-leading six assists and four steals.

“Those four all play really hard, that’s the thing,” Meeks said. “They all pressure the ball defensively and can transition from defense to offense and get down the floor quickly. One of the things that I noticed in the second half was that we tend to play better when we don’t hold the ball. We’ve got to pass the ball quickly and run the offense. We were able to get some wide-open shots when we sped the offense up and that’s what we need to do.”

“All four of them are sophomores, they’ve been here and they know what we are about here,” Meeks added. “They know the price that you have to pay to win a game like this and I think they showed up and did a really good job for us today.”

The Lady Trailblazers look to continue this great play as they continue this stretch of three games in five days.

VU will next travel to Belleville, Ill. to take on Region 24 opponent Southwestern Illinois College Monday, Jan. 16 at 6 p.m. eastern.

Then the Lady Blazers will face-off against No. 14 Wabash Valley for the first time this season at the P.E. Complex, Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 5 p.m. eastern.

“This, right now, is the part of the season that we have been aiming for,” Meeks said. “We’ve played some really tough teams. We’ve been on the floor with a lot of ranked teams so far this season. I’m glad to see the team start to come around because we are going to have to play extremely well against Wabash Valley.”

“They have a lot of second and third year players,” Meeks added. “He has some players that have transferred in from other schools. Coach Scheidecker does a great job of coaching them and we are going to have to deal with that. They run a pressing defense. They are running at the ball pretty much the entire game. We are going to have to be able to handle that. Offensively we are going to have to handle the press and if we do that, we will see how long we can stay in the game. I think if we bring our ‘A’ game, we’ll do a really good job with that.”

“Southwestern Illinois is much better and more improved than they were last year,” Meeks said. “I think that game will be similar to this game this afternoon. They are going to show up and play hard and we will get their best effort. We look forward to playing over there. I promise you, we are not looking past Southwestern. We’ve got to take these games one at a time and hopefully we can string some wins together at the end of the season and give us something to build on as we move towards the Region tournament.”