VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Trailblazer men’s basketball team picked up their third win of the season Saturday night leading the entire way over Columbia State Community College 76-51 in the final game of the Kiwanis Classic.

The Trailblazers wasted little time grabbing the early momentum Saturday night, jumping out to a quick 16-8 lead.

Vincennes would extend their lead to 12 before Columbia State hit a late free throw to head into the locker room trailing 36-25.

VU took complete control of the game in the second half, using a 16-3 scoring run to jump out to a 21-point lead.

Vincennes would continue to add to their lead throughout the game as VU closed out their third win in five days with a 76-51 win over Columbia State.

“I thought this was a nice win,” VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. “I thought the win Tuesday night against Kankakee was a nice win. We’ve got three Division I wins this week. There are not a whole lot of teams in the country that have more than that.”

“We were tested in a lot of ways tonight that our team had not seen,” Franklin added. “Columbia State was big, strong and physical. The press you defensively, they force you to make shots, they break you down. They are really physical on the glass. They may be as good of a rebounding team as we will face this year. The rebounds were even tonight, which we never want to be even rebounding the ball, so that was a battle of strength and strength.”

“I’m proud of our guys,” Franklin said. “I thought we had a good week. There are a lot of things that we have to get better, but I think if you watch this team, you can see where it looks a lot like the nine years before last year here. It looks like the last 23 or 24 years before last year that I’ve had as a coach. I see the progression, it’s just whether they keep their eye on the prize or not. Which so far it looks like they are and hopefully they will. If they do then this team has tremendous potential because we’re new. We are still learning. They are learning every little thing right now. We’ve got a long way to go to get as good as this team could be. If this team can get near as good as they could be, I think we can contend with anybody.”

VU was led offensively by a big outside shooting night by freshman Kris King (Washington, D.C.). King would hit six out of seven three-point shots on his way to a team-high 18 points. King also played a big role defensively for the Blazers, finishing with three steals on the night.

Sophomore Tasos Cook (Columbus, Ohio) picked up where he left off last night, scoring 10 of his 17 points in the first half, while also matching King’s three steals defensively.

Sophomore Caleb Johnson (N. Preston, Nova Scotia) was the third VU scorer to reach double figures, ending the night with10 points and four rebounds.

Sophomore Shilo Jackson (Indianapolis, Ind.) and freshman Kent King (Washington, D.C.) rounded out the VU starting lineup Saturday night, with Jackson ending with eight points, six rebounds and three blocks, with King finishing with six points, six rebounds and four assists.

Freshmen James Locke IV (Spencer, Okla.) and Kale Gaither (Madisonville, Ky.) did the bulk of the scoring off the bench for Vincennes Saturday, with Locke adding eight points and three assists, while Gaither finished with seven points, a team-high five assists and three rebounds.

 THUNDERBOLTS SWEEP ICE FLYERS WITH A 4-3 WIN 

Evansville, In.: After a 3-2 win the night prior, Brendan Harrogate led the way with a pair of goals as the Thunderbolts defeated the Ice Flyers once again in a much rougher nailbiter of a game on Saturday night at Ford Center, sweeping the weekend doubleheader.  The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Friday, November 11^th against the Huntsville Havoc at 7:00 pm CT.  For tickets, call (812)422-BOLT (2658), go to EvansvilleThunderbolts.com or visit the Ford Center Ticket Office.

Evansville once again scored early in the contest, as Harrogate scored on a breakaway only 3:37 into the first period, assisted by Scott Kirton to give Evansville the lead.  Minutes later, Jake Witkowski tied the game 1-1 at the 6:00 mark. Shorthanded, the Thunderbolts regained the lead as Matthew Barron scored from Andrew Shewfelt to give Evansville a 2-1 lead.  Pensacola tied the game early in the second period, as Jordan Henderson scored at 2:29 to make it a 2-2 game.  Evansville once again responded as Shewfelt scored on a power play at 7:41, assisted by Felix Sasser and Barron to make it 3-2 Evansville.

The third period saw the eruption of a line brawl at 6:27, as goalie Zane Steeves was run from behind in his crease by Griff Jeszka, setting off a powder keg that saw fights involving Evansville’s Matthew Hobbs, Alexis Girard, and Scott Kirton, against Ice Flyers Jeszka, Branden Makara, and Jay Powell.  Just after the ensuing Thunderbolt’s power play elapsed, Harrogate scored his second goal of the game at 8:47 to give Evansville a 4-2 lead.  Right afterward at 10:02, Kolten Olynek scored on a Pensacola power play to pull the Ice Flyers back within a 4-3 deficit, but the Thunderbolt’s lead held as Evansville completed the weekend sweep with a 4-3 victory.

Harrogate scored two goals, while Shewfelt and Barron scored a goal and assist each.  Steeves stopped 35 of 38 shots faced in the net for his 4^th win of the season.  These two teams meet again on March 24^th at the Pensacola Bay Center.

Individual game tickets, season tickets, and group packages are on sale for this 2022-23 season.  Call 812-422-BOLT or visit our all-new website (www.evansvillethunderbolts.com) for details.

About Evansville Thunderbolts: The Evansville Thunderbolts is the area’s only professional hockey team. The Thunderbolts are a proud member of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). The team is owned and operated by VW Sports, L.L.C, a subsidiary of VenuWorks, Inc. www.evansvillethunderbolts.com

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Despite winning the second set, University of Southern Indiana Volleyball (1-24, 1-13 OVC) ended the night with a 3-1 loss (16-25, 27-25, 10-25, 14-25) to Tennessee State University (13-15, 7-8 OVC) at Screaming Eagles Arena Friday night. This is the third-straight match the Screaming Eagles have earned 35 kills or less.
 
A strong offensive outing from the Lady Tigers cost USI the 25-16 opening-frame loss. The game started with three straight offensive points from TSU before a bad set gave the Eagles their first point. Down 7-3, sophomore outside/right side hitter Abby Bednar (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) struck down a kill right before junior outside hitter Leah Anderson (Bloomington, Illinois) nabbed a service ace to cut the deficit to two. The Lady Tigers returned the favor by scoring six of the next eight points to extend their 13-7 advantage. After a pair of attacking errors from TSU, the Eagles pulled within four until the Lady Tigers put on 10 of the final 16 points to capture the 1-0 match lead. TSU tallied a match-high 16 kills and a .462 hitting percentage in the first set. USI was able to record 10 kills and their match-best .214 hitting percentage.
 
The Eagles found the most luck in the second set, earning a 27-25 victory. Down 4-3 early, USI retaliated and took their first lead of the match by going on a 7-0 run that gave them the 10-4 advantage. The surge was highlighted by three Anderson aces along with a pair of kills from Bednar and sophomore outside hitter Abby Weber (Fishers, Indiana). With a 14-9 lead, the Eagles watched the Lady Tigers come within one after a short 4-0 stretch. Things got dicey after another 4-0 run by TSU took away USI’s lead, 20-18. However, the Eagles stormed back to regain the lead at 23-22 before the Lady Tigers stole it back at 24-23. USI ended the set on a 4-1 stint that tied the match at 1-1. The Eagles earned a match-best 12 kills off 43 total attacks, the most in one set between the two sides.
 
A tough outing for USI gives TSU the 25-10 third-frame win. The Eagles held a 4-3 early lead before the Lady Tigers went on a ridiculous 10-0 run to take the 13-4 advantage. TSU went on to score 12 of the final 18 points to cap off the big victory. The Lady Tigers’ defense held the Eagles to just six kills and only 29 total attacks. Junior outside/right side hitter/setter Katherine Koch (Belleville, Indiana) led the frame with a pair of kills.
 
The final frame ended the same way as the third set with a 25-14 TSU match-sealing victory. The set started with a quick 6-0 Lady Tigers run before a kill from Bednar stopped the surge. After going up 7-2, TSU went on another 6-0 stint that made it a 13-2 advantage. USI was able to get a short 3-0 run off a pair of attacking errors and a Bednar kill before the Lady Tigers tallied five of the next six points to double up on the Eagles, 23-11. USI tallied three straight points before the Lady Tigers ended the night by earning the final two points. The Eagles’ offense struggled in the last set, earning just seven kills and 10 errors off 39 total attacks to make it a negative .077 hitting percentage.
 
Bednar and Anderson led the team with 13 kills each with Weber and sophomore setter Carly Sobieralski (Indianapolis, Indiana) tallying 13 digs each. Koch recorded a team-high three blocks while Anderson earned a match-high four aces. Sobieralski also had a team-high 27 assists to capture her eighth double-double this season and her fourth in the last six matches.
 
USI produced 35 kills, 32 assists, and four aces with 51 digs and five blocks. TSU ended the night with 55 kills, 46 assists, and 12 aces along with 69 digs and 16 blocks. The Lady Tigers’ 16 blocks are the most allowed by the Eagles this season.
 

EVANSVILLE – Following a win in its lone preseason exhibition last Saturday, the University of Evansville women’s basketball team begins the 2022-23 regular season against Eastern Kentucky on Monday evening at 4 PM (CT) in Richmond, Ky.

Evansville and Eastern Kentucky open the 2022-23 season with their fifth meeting in series history with the all-time series tied at two wins each. The Aces and Colonels met last season inside the Ford Center in Evansville as the Aces earned a 67-57 win on Nov. 17, 2022. The Aces opened the 2022-23 campaign last Saturday in the team’s lone exhibition against Roosevelt, capturing a 101-57 win over the Lakers. Six Aces finished in double-figures, led by seniors Abby Feit with 15 points and nine boards and A’Niah Griffin with 15 points and six rebounds.

The Aces opener at EKU starts a string of road games to open the regular season for UE. In its first seven games, Evansville will play five on the road, beginning with EKU on Monday and a trip to No. 4 Iowa on Thursday night in Iowa City.

Evansville returns more than 75% of this scoring from last year, including all-MVC first-team and all-MVC preseason team selection Abby Feit, who led the team in points, rebounds, and minutes per game, three pointers made, steals, and blocks. Joining Feit are returning starters Myia Clark, Anna Newman, and Celine DuPont, while key members Jossie Hudson, A’Niah Griffin, Elly Morgan, and Kodie Myszka also are back for the 2022-23 season.