EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball fell short Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Saturday evening at Screaming Eagles Arena. The Screaming Eagles, who stumbled for the first time at home this season, go to 8-9 overall and 1-3 in the OVC, while Cougars are 12-5, 3-1 OVC.  

USI bounced out to a good start building a five-point lead before the first media timeout, 14-9, behind five points from graduate forward Trevor Lakes (Lebanon, Indiana) and three from senior guard Jelani Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) in an 8-4 run. The Cougars rallied to take the lead, 25-19, with just under 10 minutes on an 18-5 run of their own. 

After USI cut the deficit to one, 26-25, SIUE posted its largest lead of the half, 35-28, with just over two minutes to play before halftime. The Cougars missed the final shot of the first half and led 35-29 at the break.  

Defense led the way during the first 20 minutes with both teams hitting 36.7 percent from the field (11-30). USI had the advantage in three-point field goals (6-16), while SIUE had the lead at the line (11-12).  

The Eagles battled hard throughout the second half, but could not get the all-important run to take the lead. The deficit remained consistantly around 10 points, expanding to as many as 15 with 8:57 to play in the contest (57-42).  

USI chipped away at the deficit and for the second game in a row it clawed its way back to within shouting distance in the final minutes. The Eagles, trailing by 10 points, 64-54, made their final run with a 8-2 surge to get the margin to four points, 66-62, when sophomore guard Isaiah Swope (Newburgh, Indiana) drove the lane for a bucket with 1:24 remaining.  

The Cougars’ defense held firm in the final 60 seconds and added three free throws to end the game, 69-62.  

For the game, USI was led by Swope, who had 19 points, and Lakes, who dropped in 16. Swope was eight-of-18 from the field, two-of-four from beyond the arc, and one-of-two from from the line, while Lakes was five-of-11 from the field, four-of-10 from long range, and two-of-two from the stripe.  

The Eagles won the battle on the glass, 41-33, and was led by senior forward Jacob Polakovich (Grand Rapids, Michigan), who grabbeded a game-high 12 rebounds. Junior guard Tyler Henry (Brooklyn, New York) followed Polakovich on the glass with a 10 rebounds.  

Henry had nine points in the game and needs nine more to reach 1,000 points in his collegiate career.  

Evansville, In.:  The Thunderbolt struck early and often on Saturday night in front of over 4,000 fans at Ford Center, defeating the Rivermen 6-2 behind a hat trick from Scott Kirton and another strong performance from goaltender Trevor Gorsuch.  The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Wednesday, January 11^th against the Huntsville Havoc at 7:00pm CT.  For tickets, call (812)422-BOLT (2658), go to EvansvilleThunderbolts.com, or visit the Ford Center Ticket Office.

The Thunderbolts were handed four power play chances in the first period, and they cashed in twice to take an early 2-0 lead.  Fredrik Wink struck first at 4:13, assisted by Andrew Shewfelt, before Scott Kirton’s first goal at 5:38 from James Isaacs and Mike Ferraro made it 2-0 Thunderbolts.  In the second period and on a stretch of 4-on-4 play, Wink scored again at 8:32 from Aaron Huffnagle to make it 3-0, followed by Huffnagle’s goal from Dillon Hill at 12:56 to give the Thunderbolts a dominant 4-0 lead through two periods.

In the third period, Kirton scored once again at 3:01, assisted by Ferraro and Brendan Harrogate to make it a 5-0 Thunderbolts lead.  In the final 5 minutes, the Rivermen struck back twice to prevent a shutout, as Alec Baer scored at 15:40, followed by Alec Hagaman at 16:59 on a late power play.  The Rivermen pulled goaltender Eric Levine for one last attempt at getting closer, however it instead set the table for Kirton to score his third goal of the game from about 150 feet down the ice at the 18:21 mark, assisted by Hayden Hulton and Kyle Thacker and rounding out the 6-2 Thunderbolts victory.

 Kirton scored three goals, Wink finished with two goals, while Huffnagle scored one goal and one assist.  Ferraro finished with two assists, and Trevor Gorsuch stopped 41 of 43 shots faced for his 4^th win of the season.  These two teams meet again on February 24^th at Peoria Civic Center.

VINCENNES, Ind. – Vincennes University sophomore Caleb Johnson (N. Preston, Nova Scotia) recorded his second double-double in his Trailblazer career Saturday night as the Blazers won 116-64 over Harry S. Truman College.

Johnson’s 25 points and 12 rebounds were good enough to match his 27-point, 10-rebound double-double earlier this season against the Falcons in Chicago.

The Trailblazers’ 116 points Saturday night is the most by a VU team against an NJCAA Division I opponent since Jan. 30, 2019, when VU scored 122 at Southeastern Illinois.

Vincennes overcame a slow start after not playing for close to three weeks but managed to quickly shake off the rust to take a 21-8 lead with a 12-0 scoring run.

VU continued to ride the momentum through the end of the first half, outscoring Truman 15-3 to close out the opening 20 minutes of play and take a 49-24 lead into the locker room.

The Trailblazers looked to put the game away early in the second half and built on their lead with a 15-2 scoring run to take an 81-42.

Vincennes emptied the benches late as all 13 active players got into the game and VU cruised late with a 17-3 scoring run to come away with the 116-64 victory.

“I thought we played pretty well for the situation of coming back off of a break against a team we thought we would beat,” VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. “I thought we were pretty crisp. Having only three turnovers and 116 points, those things are hard to do. You don’t have that very often when you have that many possessions and you only turn it over three times. That’s always going to be a positive.”

“I thought we were alright defensively in the first half,” Franklin added. “I thought Ryan did a really good job on Hammons in the first half. Second half he didn’t guard him as much and he relaxed a little bit when he did and Hammons got off on us as the game went on. Hammons is a good player, but that first half you could tell that Ryan was playing him the way he was supposed to play him with the intensity you need and was able to hold him down.”

“We are starting to find our rotation of guys and I thought that helped our rhythm,” Franklin said. “You get the guys who are playing sharp and playing together and those are the ones that are out there most of the time, I think you saw the difference. I thought we were crisper with the ball. I thought we finished better. But we also had the guys out there that finished better in the first half and it’s more concentrated now.”

“Obviously Hammons went off on us in the second half and got some points but I thought other than that we were pretty clean for right now,” Franklin added. “We’ll see moving forward. We have to sync it up and get ready for two huge road games coming up that if we can get them will put us in great position, but they are hard to get.”

VU was led offensively by sophomore Caleb Johnson who ended with 25 points, 19 of which coming in the second half and a new VU career-high of 12 rebounds for his second Trailblazer double-double. Both coming against Harry S. Truman.

Freshman Kris King (Washington, D.C.) was the first man off the bench for the Trailblazers and did not disappoint on his way to 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Sophomores Tasos Cook (Columbus, Ohio) and Trenton Johnson (South Bend, Ind.) each finished with 14 points, with Cook adding seven assists and Johnson connecting on four of eight shooting from three-point range.

Freshman Ryan Oliver (Antioch, Tenn.) was the fifth VU scorer in double-figures with 11 points, three rebounds and three assists.

Freshman Kale Gaither (Madisonville, Ky.) came off the bench and nearly picked up a double-double of his own, ending with nine points, a team-high eight assists and five rebounds.

Freshman James Locke IV (Spencer, Okla.) came off the bench late to score eight points, including hitting two of three from behind the arc.

“I thought the best thing about Caleb tonight was the fact that he didn’t have it in the first half,” Franklin said. “He didn’t have much rhythm on his shot and then he was able to correct himself during the game, which a lot of time guys can’t do. Then once he got that, he changed the rhythm on his shot and got it back to where it was supposed to be and he was very effective shooting the ball and finishing after he corrected himself. When you have that discipline to when it’s not rolling to go back and focus on the fundamentals and get it back online bodes well for him.”

“I thought we were just pretty crisp and clean for the most part,” Franklin added. “We’ve still got things to clean up after our first game back after about two and a half weeks. But to come back and only give up three turnovers, it’s hard to play for a couple of hours, going up and down that floor and function. Those five guys for Truman, they put you in different spots and they try different defenses. Like I said after we played them the first time, I thought they could stretch you and do some things and they went out an won right after we played them. I’m not surprised. They do a great job for the situation they’ve been thrown into and they’ve got one really good player. Hammons is a really good player. If you don’t guard him right, you see what can happen. He’s making tough shots and they tried and they made us get out there, move around and guard and stretch the floor and I thought it was good experience for the big guys who won’t always be in that position.”

“I thought everybody got out there and got something done tonight,” Franklin said. “I think we shot it pretty well but we made some adjustments to where we are playing the guys who did shoot it well in the first half of the year. That’s who was out there, so it sort of works out that way that we shot it a little better out there tonight. I thought offensively we were pretty clean for this game and what we had to do. We’ll see what this does moving forward. We will give them tomorrow off, it’s the first day off in a while and hopefully they are back in the gym anyway because they need to be in here working and we’ll get back at it Monday morning with strength training in the morning and try to get two great days Monday and Tuesday. Hopefully we can get some fans to come over to Robinson and give us some support in what is a big game and a short drive Wednesday night. Hopefully we have a lot of Blazer fans come to that one because it will be the best game of the week in the Region and it’s got big National and District implications and a big opportunity for us to get a road win. So we would appreciate some help.”

“As I said in the pregame show tonight, late in the semester in December I didn’t think Kris was in the gym working the way he needed to,” Franklin added. “And his game wasn’t quite where it needed to be. But I thought over the break he responded and had a pretty good break. I thought he was pretty sharp in practice and was focused in. You could see some things changing. He was staying after and was in the gym shooting and doing some things that maybe weren’t happening before the break. I thought he had a pretty good break. We’ve been back since the 28th, so we’ve been back for a little bit and you could see it and I’m glad that showed up tonight in success on the court.”

“Kris can really help us, there’s no question,” Franklin said. “That’s why we went to him in the first semester most of the time but you’ve got to respond and he responded at times but late in the semester he didn’t. Now he’s in the next stage of life. He’s had to respond to a little bit of adversity when it comes to that and I thought he’s done a pretty good job and it showed up tonight.”

The remaining 12 games in the VU regular season are all against Region 24 opponents, beginning Wednesday, Jan. 11 when Vincennes makes the short trip to Robinson, Ill. to face off against Lincoln Trail College. Tip-off time for the Trailblazers is set for 8 p.m. eastern.

“The bottom line is that we are just worried about ourselves,” Franklin said. “We know how we are supposed to play and we can only control ourselves. I thought we had some improving to do over the break and I thought we did some and I think we’ve got some improving to do between now and Wednesday. We could be a good basketball team. We are 17 and 1 for a reason. 5 and 1 in the district for a reason. We’ve played three tough road games and won two of them, which is what you have to do if you want to win it. If we can come back and get Wednesday and Monday at Southwestern Illinois, we would really be in pretty good shape making that turn after those eight games.”

“We’ve just got to keep improving,” Franklin added. “It’s nothing but the basics of how we play. We have a way that we play. We have a way that we teach things. There are the fundamentals involved in what we do. They’ve been through it enough now to where they know. They know what they are supposed to be working on. They know what works for us and they know what doesn’t. They’ve been through it. They’ve felt it. They know what they need to come into the gym and work on. That’s about all we could ask for with a new team coming into this second half of the year. Now it’s how bad to do you want it because they are not confused anymore.”

“Our guys know what their roles are and what they are going to be asked to do in a game and the fundamentals it takes to go out there and do it,” Franklin said. “Hopefully we just keep hardening up. There not going to be anything earth shattering beyond that. We do it, play with some energy, get some energy in that ball where it moves sharp and crisp, when we are doing that and hitting gaps and moving the ball, pushing the ball down the floor and get good spacing, we are hard to guard. Then crashing the glass after that, we are hard to keep off the glass. If we get out there and guard the way we are supposed to and really put that effort into it then we are not always the easiest team to score on. If we can do that for 40 minutes, I like our chances against anybody. But if we do that and we get beat, that’s the best we can do, we’ll come back the next day and try to get better. That’s the mindset that I want our guys to have and I think we are starting to take that on but we’ll see in a hostile environment Wednesday night.”

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball returned home to Screaming Eagles Arena on Saturday and got back on track in a big way, capturing a 79-59 win against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in Ohio Valley Conference action.
 
The victory moved the Screaming Eagles’ record to 8-7 overall and 2-2 in OVC play. For the Cougars, the loss dropped their record to 3-12 overall and 2-2 in the OVC.
 
Southern Indiana was led on the night by a pair of double doubles. Sophomore guard Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) posted 18 points and 12 rebounds, while senior forward Hannah Haithcock (Washington Courthouse, Ohio) recorded 14 points and 10 boards. Shafford’s 12 rebounds were a career high. Saturday marked the first time two USI players tallied double doubles in the same game since February 17, 2018, when Kaydie Grooms registered 26 points and 12 rebounds and Morgan Dahlstrom accumulated 20 points and 10 rebounds against Rockhurst University.
 
After SIUE scored the first basket of the game, USI went on a 10-0 run to grab the lead three and a half minutes into the contest. The Screaming Eagles went to junior forward Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana) inside, establishing an early post presence.
 
The Cougars closed the gap following the first-quarter timeout, but USI increased its lead late in the first. With USI up 16-9 and 3:19 left in the first quarter, senior forward Tara Robbe (Wildwood, Missouri) went on an individual run. Robbe scored seven straight points for USI. The Screaming Eagles led 23-15 after the opening period.
 
Southern Indiana’s defense was stout to begin the second quarter, holding the Cougars scoreless for the first 4:08 of the second quarter until a made free throw. In the meantime, the Screaming Eagles were finding themselves in a physical clash on the other end of the court.
 
Both teams endured a cold spell from the field in the latter portion of the second quarter. USI increased its lead after hitting six free throws in the period. Plus, Shafford made a layup before the halftime horn sounded, giving USI a 38-24 advantage at halftime.
 
The start of the third quarter was just as much of a defensive contest as the second quarter. Senior guard Tori Handley (Jeffersonville, Indiana) snapped a USI scoreless drought that nearly reached three minutes when she connected on a corner three-pointer with 5:13 left in the third period. The triple gave Southern Indiana a 17-point lead, 47-30, the largest of the game at that time of the game.
 
USI’s unselfishness continued through the third quarter. Haithcock, who had six points at halftime, scored six in the third period. Haithcock joined Raley, Shafford, and Robbe as players who had scored eight or more through the end of the third period. USI led 60-40 after three.
 
Shafford had a solid start to the fourth quarter, connecting on a pair of threes within the first few minutes of the period. Her second triple of the fourth gave USI a 68-46 lead with 7:18 remaining. Shafford also achieved the double-double in the fourth, her fourth double-double of the season. Haithcock also joined Shafford with the double-double in the fourth quarter, her second of the season.
 
The Screaming Eagles continued to spread the wealth for the rest of the game, as graduate forward Ashlynn Brown (Perrysburg, Ohio) had a strong finish around the basket with four minutes left, pushing USI’s lead to 72-53 and helping close out the win.
 
On the night, Raley joined Shafford and Haithcock in double figures, tallying 14 points and a 6-for-6 night at the line. Brown also finished in double digits with 10 points while also pulling down eight caroms. The team effort also saw Handley score nine points and Robbe score eight points.
 
Overall, the Screaming Eagles shot 27-69 from the field for 39.1 percent with seven three-pointers. Southern Indiana had 21 assists. USI was 18-for-23 for 78.3 percent at the stripe. USI matched a season-high with 53 rebounds for the third time this season, going plus-nine on the glass, and grabbing 19 offensive rebounds.
 
Sophomore guard Sofie Lowis led SIUE with 22 points, the only Cougar to reach double figures. Reigning OVC Player of the Week and senior forward Ajulu Thatha was held to four points after dealing with foul trouble throughout the game.
 
As a team, the Cougars were 21-68 from the floor for 30.9 percent with three triples. At the line, SIUE was 14-24 for 58.3 percent.
 
The Screaming Eagles return to action against the University of Arkansas Little Rock Thursday at 5 p.m. from Screaming Eagles Arena on Whiteout Night. Fans should come out wearing white apparel to support USI Basketball and fill the arena for a USI Basketball doubleheader. USI students should pack the Penn Station Student Section and will receive a free white shirt and a rally towel provided by Liberty Federal Credit Union upon entering through the student entrance.
 

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers tipped-off the new year of VU basketball Saturday afternoon when the Lady Blazers hosted No. 21-ranked Moberly Area Community College at the P.E. Complex.

VU welcomed back freshman center Elikya Baseyila (Paris, France) who had been sidelined with an injury for a month and Baseyila wasted little time getting back into game shape with a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double. Her fifth of the season.

The Lady Greyhounds took control of the game early, answering an early basket by the Blazers with a 9-0 scoring run.

Vincennes would battle back to cut the deficit to two before ending the first quarter of play trailing 15-11.

Moberly Area really grabbed control of the game in the second quarter, using a 10-0 scoring run to take a 12-point first half lead and continued to add on, closing out the first 20 minutes of action with a 43-26 lead.

The Lady Greyhounds came out of the locker room and continued their run, building a 51-28 advantage, which would be their largest lead of the game.

Vincennes began to slowly chip away at the deficit with a quick 6-0 run, but still trailed by 18 heading into the fourth period of play.

VU opened the fourth quarter on an 11-2 scoring run to cut the Moberly lead to single digits.

Moberly Area would get a couple of late baskets to get the lead back to 15, which the Lady Blazers were unable to overcome as the clock ran out. Vincennes fell to Moberly Area 75-60.

“I thought we play alright,” VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Harry Meeks said. “Not great, but alright. There are some things that we need to work on both defensively and offensively. The problem that we have had so far this season is keeping everybody healthy. We need to get those young ladies who have missed a lot of practice time back on the floor and doing a really good job for us.”

“The second quarter today cost us,” Meeks added. “If we would have competed a little bit better in the second quarter, we would have been right there at the end of the game. But we didn’t. It got away from us. We were able to cut the score back down to nine and I was really pleased with that and how hard we played.”

“We are going to be better,” Meeks said. “Elikya came back and really helped us out. She had literally only practiced once or twice before today. She did a really good job and was a factor inside. I think she will continue to help us and if I can get Najra back healthy here in a reasonable amount of time, I think that is really going to help our team. We still have people hurt. We still have people sick and we’ve got to get those ladies back and practicing and back to being a productive part of our team. I look forward to the rest of this season. I do not feel bad about where we are as a team moving forward. I think we are going to show something the rest of the season.”

The Blazers were led by freshman Elikya Baseyila who recorded her fifth career double-double coming off the bench after being sidelined with an injury since December 7th.

Vincennes got big games out of sophomore guards Cherrelle Newsom (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Daylynn Thornton (Lafayette, Ind.).

Newsom ended with 16 points, six rebounds, a team-high four assists and three steals. Thornton finished with 12 points, including a perfect two of two shooting from three-point range and seven rebounds.

Freshman Maycee Lange (Vincennes, Ind.) came away with six points, five rebounds and a pair of steals, while freshman Brie Miller (Greencastle, Ind.) set a new career-high with 10 rebounds against the Greyhounds.

Freshman Katrina Litte (Valmiera, Latvia) came off the bench to add five points, a team-high four steals and a pair of rebounds.

“Elikya, Cherrelle and Daylynn were all three a big part of this basketball game for us,” Meeks said. “Daylynn with her hustle and her play. She’s been hurt and just never seems to slow down. She works really hard all of the time and she has really helped us. She hasn’t been shooting well, but she has got into the gym and worked on it and she looks like she has really improved quite a bit.”

“I’m looking on more ways to get Elikya the ball more inside,” Meeks added. “She can score at will in the post. She has the moves, the strength and she is a very productive player in the paint.”

“Cherrelle had a rough start to the game but Cherrelle never gives up,” Meeks said. “You can’t tell if she is having a good day or a bad day shooting the ball. She is going to give it to you all the time. I love having her on the team. She’s a great shooter. But she has to be a little more consistent and not worrying about missing a shot.”

“Kids love playing for me because I let them shoot the ball,” Meeks added. “If you can demonstrate that you can shoot from there, I’ll let you. Cherrelle has demonstrated that she is a good three-point shooter. She just got off to a rough start today but came on and did a really good job for us in the second half. She plays hard all the time and gives it all she has. I’m really pleased to have her on this basketball team because she is definitely an asset.”

The Lady Blazers will dive headfirst into their Region 24 schedule to close out the rest of the regular season, beginning with a short trip to Robinson, Ill. Wednesday, Jan. 11 to take on Lincoln Trail College. Tip-off time for the Lady Blazers is set for 6 p.m. eastern.

“I think our strength of schedule so far will help us moving forward,” Meeks said. “I know I hate losing games and I hate having this many losses this early in the season but it could have been worse. We practically got down to five active players just before the break. We went and won a game with five guards, just playing our heart out.”

“I think the girls really understand what it takes to be a winner and I think they are really getting better,” Meeks added. “I think we’ve made the turn and I think we are getting better and better with that. We are working on things that are going to help the team. I really look forward to getting Elikya back on the floor more. I think that is going to help us. If I can get Najra back, that would really help us. She can play some four or five, which would give us a big body on the floor at all times which is difficult to play against.”

“I think the experience of playing and playing the teams we have played, where we have played them, I think that has helped us,” Meeks said. “I think you will see that we will continue to get better. I think you are going to see that we are going to play harder. It is going to be more difficult to beat us in the coming days, weeks and months left in this season. I really feel like this group is getting ready to explode and have a really strong second half of the season.