Aces fall just short against Bruins

Belmont wins by three at the Ford Center

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – In an exciting contest that featured 20 lead changes, it was Belmont who converted its late free throws to take an 85-82 win over the University of Evansville men’s basketball team on Saturday inside the Ford Center.

It looked as if the Bruins would cruise to the win in the first half as they led by as many as 15 points.  Evansville completed the half on a 17-4 run to trail by just a pair at halftime before retaking the lead early in the second half.  Both squads took multiple leads in the second stanza with the Bruins completing the 3-point win.

Cam Haffner was the top scorer in the game, scoring 25 points.  He hit seven triples and finished just two points shy of his career scoring high.  Tayshawn Comer had 16 points while Connor Turnbull matched his mark of 13 points.  Josh Hughes wrapped up the day with ten.  Tanner Cuff approached a double-double, setting a new career high with 11 assists while grabbing nine boards.

“Belmont is a really good team especially on the offensive end.  They have some excellent shooters.  Their pace initially stunned our guys but once we settled in, we did a much better job,” Purple Aces head coach David Ragland said.  “I’m proud of the guys effort and how connected we were especially in the second half.”

Tayshawn Comer’s triple got the Aces on the board before the Bruins went up 5-3.  Cam Haffner knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to establish a 9-7 lead.  Five in a row put the Bruins back in the lead, but a quick 5-0 spurt by the Aces was capped off by another Comer triple to put UE on top at 14-12.

After retaking a 19-16 lead with 11 minutes left in the half, Belmont made its move.  Outscoring Evansville by a 16-4 margin, the Bruins opened a 3-20 lead with 7:25 left in the period.  Just when it looked like Belmont was going to pull away, the Aces had other ideas.  Michael Day hit a triple to open a 9-0 stretch for UE.  Gabriel Pozzato capped the stretch with his first basket after missing the previous eight games.

With just over two minutes remaining in the half, the Bruins held a 39-33 edge.  The defense for the Aces continued to clamp down while it was Day picking up four more points to cut the deficit to just two points at halftime – 39-37.  Evansville completed the half on a 17-4 run.

Josh Hughes continued the stretch to open the latter half, connecting from downtown to give UE its first lead since early in the game at 40-39.  Haffner added two more 3-pointers to put UE in front at 49-46 while Comer picked up a field goal to push the lead to 51-46.

As the game reached the 12-minute mark, Pozzato made his presence known once again.  Comer forced a Bruin turnover and found Pozzato ahead of the play.  His dunk made it a 57-50 contest.  In a back-and-forth game, Belmont had the next run.  A 12-4 rally put them on top at 62-61 with just over eight minutes left.

It did not take long for the Aces to counter.  Shooting from the edge of the center court logo, Cam Haffner converted his fifth triple of the game on the ensuing possession.  The teams continued to swap the lead as the Bruins went back up by a 70-66 margin with UE battling back to jump back on top as Hughes converted another triple before Comer found Turnbull for a dunk that put the Aces in front – 71-70.  Turnbull knocked down a pair of free throws at the 3:56 mark that returned the lead to the Aces at 73-72.

Belmont picked up the next four points and held multiple leads down the stretch, but the Aces continued to give themselves a chance.  Two free throws put the Bruins in front at 83-79 with 30 ticks remaining.  Haffner drained another triple as the deficit was cut back to a point.  After Belmont hit two more from the line, Evansville had a final chance to tie the game with four seconds remaining.  Unfortunately, a last-second 3-pointer fell short, giving the Bruins the 85-82 victory.

Carter Whitt paced the Bruins with 20 points as the team shot 48.3% on the day.  Evansville finished slightly better, hitting 48.4% of its attempts.  Both teams had 33 rebounds.  The Aces are back home on Wednesday as they face UIC in a 7 p.m. game.

-www.GoPurpleAces.com-

No. 24 Trailblazers go wire-to-wire in Region 24 win over Lake Land College

VINCENNES, Ind. – The No. 24 ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers faced another tough Region 24 test inside the Physical Education Complex Saturday afternoon, hosting Lake Land College from Mattoon, Ill.

The Blazers jumped on the Lakers early and rode the home crowd all night as the Blazers led wire-to-wire and came away with a big 102-78 victory over the Lakers.

The Trailblazers got out to an excellent start Saturday, scoring the first seven points of the game and opening the game on an impressive 25-8 run over the Lakers.

Vincennes continued to add to their lead throughout the first half, using a 10-0 scoring run to put the lead at 37-15.

Lake Land would get their offense going late in the first half however, using a 14-4 run of their own to get back within 11 but were unable to cut the deficit back to single digits as VU headed into the locker room holding on to a 50-35 advantage over Lake Land.

The Lakers looked to keep being aggressive early in the second half, once again cutting the VU lead down to 10 at 63-53 before the Blazers answered back strong with a 21-6 run to put the lead at 84-59.

The two teams traded baskets down the stretch, with Lake Land unable to cut into the Trailblazer lead as VU was able to empty the bench late and cruise to a big 102-78 victory over the Lakers, increasing VU’s winning streak to nine.

“I thought there were a lot of good things out there tonight,” VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. “Then there are moments where we lose our concentration and that right now is what separates us from developing into a team that’s better than everybody else in the country. Right now we’re probably as good as anybody in the country but that’s what we are searching for. That’s why I’m riding hard and pushing because I think that we can be the best team in the country somewhere here in the next month or two. We may not but I believe that it’s very possible.”

“There’s moments in here tonight where you can see it,” Franklin added. “Our guys have worked really hard to get to where we went from being a team that was not really formed, one guy back, we’ve had all kinds of little injuries and people out that we don’t really talk about. But we’ve come a long way and the guys have done a lot of work to do that. I thought you could see it out there tonight in the ball movement.”

“We’ve been very good offensively, efficiency wise, if we don’t turn it over,” Franklin said. “And we haven’t really been forced into too many turnovers. We’ve just got to be more and more solid with the ball. But in just about every game that matters after the first few weeks of the season, we’ve shot over 50 percent. Our assist numbers have been excellent. Our offensive rebounding. The ball moves, we can beat you off the dribble, we can beat you on post ups, we’ll beat you on jump shots and we’ll beat you in transition. This team has got a lot of things, we just really need to focus in, grit those teeth and push over that last edge. But you can see all of that on display today. When we really got down and wanted to guard, we guarded them and then when we relaxed, they blew by us. We’ve just got to keep fighting for a couple hours and getting it but in spots today, we were pretty good.”

The Trailblazers were led offensively by freshman Travelle Bryson (Anderson, S.C.) who had a big night off the bench, finishing with a new career-high with 24 points and seven rebounds.

Sophomore Michael Cooper (Minneapolis, Minn.) finished off his second double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds to go along with five assists.

Freshman Dayton Williams (Louisville, Ky.) once again filled up the stats sheet on his way to his fourth collegiate double-double with 10 points and a team-high 14 rebounds. Williams just missed out on a triple-double by also leading the Trailblazers with nine assists, four blocks and two steals in the game.

Sophomore and 2024 NJCAA All-American Lebron Thomas (Bishopville, S.C.) just missed out on a double-double of his own with 17 points, eight assists, four rebounds and three blocks.

Freshman Kenaz Ochogwu (E. Providence, R.I.) was the fifth VU scorer in double figures Saturday afternoon, controlling the low block for 12 points and three rebounds.

The Trailblazers won the rebounding battle Saturday afternoon over the Lakers 51 to 29 and moved the ball well offensively, converting 31 assists on 39 makes in the game.

“We had sometimes tonight when I thought Kenaz stepped up and gave us a presence,” Franklin said. “He needs to give us more and more of that. There were a few times tonight where Hussein stepped up and gave us a little presence in there. I’m impressed by the fact that we can beat you in a variety of ways if we just do what we are supposed to do with intensity, we’re hard to figure out how you are going to stop us. I think there are some guys who have opinions on how that’s going to happen and maybe that would have worked earlier in the season but it’s not going to work now.”

“What happens now is if we don’t have our intensity locked in,” Franklin added. “But I was impressed by all of that. I thought we were good, it’s just that there are moments when we are not. We relax, it’s human nature and that doesn’t mean it’s bad, it’s just that we are trying to be the best team in the country and there’s a big difference. We’re a really good team now compared to the rest of the country. I have no question that we are a top 10 to 12 team based on how we are playing and how we have been playing. If you played us today, I think we can play with anybody in the top 10 and I don’t think Vegas should make us an underdog to anybody. That doesn’t mean we will always beat them but I don’t think we should be an underdog to anybody. But we can really be special if we just lock in and be able to do it for two hours. I think we can. I know the guys want to. They are trying to. I think we can really be a good basketball team but I also know that it’s not all the way there to where we hang that fifth banner up. This could be a special season if we can find that last gear.”

The Trailblazers will look to keep this momentum going in their next contest when VU plays host to Olney Central College from Olney, Ill. Wednesday, Jan. 22 inside the P.E. Complex. Tip-off time for that game is set for 7 p.m. eastern.

“I hope the guys take the same things that I have said to them in the locker room and I say to them every day the things that I’m stressing and why I’m intense and trying to push them,” Franklin said. “It’s that we’ve got to smell it now. You can taste it. We can’t stay where we are and get there but we can get there. That’s it. I don’t want anything else, I just want that. I want to see it. I want to feel it. I know what it is. I’ve been around and had a lot of runs. So that’s what I want to see from us.”

“Now, I’d like to see from the people of Vincennes and the fans to get in here into the gym,” Franklin added. “These last 12 years have been pretty special. It’s about as good a run as anybody has ever been on consistently. We’ve been to Hutch 11 times in 12 years, so if you weren’t here for it, you missed it. You missed seeing guys that people didn’t think were going to be great players that ended up being NBA guys. You missed lots of All-Americans. You missed cheering for guys that all graduated and then went on and got their four-year degrees. Great guys. They are not perfect but great guys. You missed all of that.”

“And right now, if you are not here now, the Olney game, ‘well Olney’s not having that great of a year’, well you never know what is going to happen in league play,” Franklin said. “But more importantly, you’ve got five more chances at home to get out here and start watching this team. Because this team might be the team that puts the fifth banner up. We may not, we’ve got to push through and they may fade back, who knows. But they are good guys. There’s no reason not to cheer for them. These sophomores are all in position to all walk at graduation, like all of our guys do. If you’ve been here the last 12 years and rooting for our guys, you’ve been rooting for guys that all walked on graduation day. They care. They care about this place. They care about this program and they care about their part in it. So I don’t understand why anybody wouldn’t get out here if they can. If you are a basketball fan or just a fan of athletics, come out and watch them because you are going to miss it if you don’t. A lot of you might have missed watching the last time we won a National Championship. You may have missed all of the Final Four teams and now you don’t have to miss it. You can join in now. You’ve still got five more games left to watch it and be a part of it. So I hope everybody does. I’d love to see us really get this place rocking. I think this team deserves it. I think that this team is fun to watch. I think that they play an exciting style of basketball and yet they try to play with some discipline. We’re still a work in progress but we have progressed a lot. So not for me and maybe not even for these players, but for yourself, get to the gym. You’ve missed a lot of great stuff over the last 12 years if you weren’t out here and hopefully you don’t miss this because there might be some great things going on now.”

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (102): Bryan Akanmu 2-3 2-2 6, Michael Cooper 8-17 3-4 22, Kenaz Ochogwu 6-9 0-0 12, Lebron Thomas 6-8 2-2 17, Dayton Williams 5-11 0-1 10, Christian Andrews 1-2 2-2 4, Meyoh Swansey 0-1 0-0 0, Jalen Calloway 1-5 1-2 3, Taveon Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Travelle Bryson 8-13 5-6 24, Darstin Onye 0-0 0-0 0, Ali Sakho 0-1 0-0 0, Hussein Elmaraghy 2-3 0-0 4, Team 39-74 15-19 102.

Lake Land – 35   43 – 78

VU (15-3, 5-0) – 50   52 – 102

Three-point goals: VU 9 (Cooper 3, Thomas 3, Bryson 3). Rebounds: VU 51 (Williams 14). Assists: VU 31 (Williams 9). Steals: VU 4 (Williams 2). Blocked Shots: VU 12 (Williams 4). Turnovers: VU 15. Personal Fouls: VU 18. Fouled out: Ochogwu.

USI completes homestand sweep with win

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana junior guard Damoni Harrison and graduate forward Jack Mielke led the Screaming Eagles to a 78-66 win over Western Illinois University Saturday at Liberty Arena. The Screaming Eagles are 8-10 overall and 3-5 in OVC action, while the Leathernecks are 8-11, 2-6 OVC.

USI owned the first 11 minutes of the contest, building a 23-9 lead by the 9:41 mark. The Eagles were a blistering five-of-eight from beyond the arc as Harrison led the way with six points on two of the three-point field goals.

WIU began to chip away at the USI advantage, closing the gap to one point, 33-32, before the Eagles closed out the half with back-to-back three-point bombs by Mielke for a 39-32 advantage. Mielke finished the half with a team-best 13 points.

In the second half, USI methodically pushed the margin to 11 points in the first six minutes, 53-42. The Eagles were seven-of-11 from the field during the run with sophomore forward Stephen Olowoniyi scoring six points.

The Leathernecks would rally to close the gap for a second time, pulling to within one point, 53-52, with 10:40 remaining on the clock.

USI, once again, methodically re-built the lead in the final 10 minutes, pulling out in front by eight, 68-60, with 3:07 to play before closing out the 78-66 final with the Eagles sinking six-straight free throws.

Harrison was on fire in the second half, scoring 18 of his season-high tying 26 points. The junior guard was 11-of-19 from the field, two-of-five from beyond the arc, and two-of-two from the stripe in the game.

Mielke followed Harrison in the scoring column with 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds for his first career double-double. The graduate forward was four-of-seven from the field, including three from downtown, and six-of-six from the stripe. Mielke also grabbed 10 of his 11 rebounds on the defensive glass.

Junior guard Jayland Randall and Olowoniyi rounded out the double-digit USI scorers with 12 points and 11 points, respectively.

Next Up For USI:
Following Saturday’s action, the Eagles will be on the road for three-straight of OVC contests. USI starts the road swing with Southern Illinois University Edwardsville January 23 in Edwardsville, Illinois, and continues at Eastern Illinois University January 25 next week.

The Cougars of SIUE are 12-7 overall and 5-3 in the OVC after falling 85-82 at the University of Tennessee at Martin Saturday. The loss snapped SIUE’s five-game winning streak, but the Cougars have won seven of its last 10 games.

USI leads the all-time series with SIUE, 46-23, but the Cougars have the edges since the Eagles moved to Division I, 3-2. The teams split last year, with both winning on the other’s home court. SIUE took the first game at Liberty Arena, 67-64, but USI bounced back to win at Edwardsville, 84-67.

The Panthers of Eastern Illinois are 5-13 overall and 1-6 in the OVC following an 84-65 loss at Tennessee State University this afternoon. EIU, which will host Morehead State University before USI goes to Charleston, has lost five straight and seven of the last nine.

The series between USI and EIU is tied 3-3 after the Panthers took the only meeting last season, 81-71, at Liberty Arena. EIU leads the series in OVC contests, 2-1.

The next home game for USI at Liberty Arena is February 1 when it starts a three-game homestand by hosting Tennessee Tech University. Tickets for the homestand and all USI home dates are on sale now at USIScreamingEagles.com.

Trailblazers Track and Field open 2025 Indoor season strong at Bellarmine Open

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Vincennes University Track and Field team opened their 2025 Indoor season Friday at the 2025 Bellarmine Open in Louisville.

The Blazers got the season off to a very strong start, notching three NJCAA National qualifiers in their first meet and built a great foundation for the rest of the season.

The VU men’s team was led on the day by an outstanding performance by freshman Anis Abdaoui (Kairouan, Tunisia) who picked up a third place finish in the 3000 meters, facing several NCAA Division I runners with an impressive NJCAA Nationals qualifying time of 8:27.21

The second NJCAA qualifier for the Trailblazer men’s team was freshman Anthony Keene (Harrisburg, Ill.) who came away with fourth place in the pole vault after clearing a height of 4.35 meters.

The Trailblazers also had a strong showing Friday in the 200 meter dash led by sophomore Olamipo Ladipo (Sao Paulo, Brazil) who placed third with a time of 21.71 seconds and sophomore Malik Ferdinand (Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines) who finished seventh with a time of 21.95.

Freshmen Karmiel Williams (Jasper, Ind.) and Devin Wilson (Indianapolis, Ind.) rounded out the VU finishers in the 200 meters with Williams taking 35th at 23.65 and Wilson placing 37th at 23.65 seconds.

Ferdinand, Williams and Wilson all played double duty Friday at the Bellarmine meet, with Ferdinand teaming up with fellow sophomore Zion Pruitt (Avon, Ind.) and freshmen Isaiah Ervin (French Lick, Ind.) and ArTezz Butler-Sanders (Indianapolis, Ind.) in the 4×400 relay, finishing third overall with a time of 3:25.21.

Williams and Wilson competed with the team of freshmen Marshawn Bradley (Dyer, Ind.) Kelvin Kipsang (Kapsabet, Kenya) to take 12th place with a time of 3:43.08.

Ervin, Pruitt and Butler-Sanders all then took part in the 400 meter dash, with Ervin leading the pack of Trailblazers with a time of 52.13 to take 18th.

Zion Pruitt was close behind with a time of 52.17 to take 19th and ArTezz Butler-Sanders placed 21st with a time 52.48.

Kelvin Kipsang rounded out his day on the track by competing in the 1000 meters, finishing 10th with a time of 2:43.84.

In the field events, freshman Chase Guthrie (Indianapolis, Ind.) came away with a ninth place finish in the long jump with a distance of 6.69 meters, while freshman Cayden Gasser (Delphi, Ind.) placed 20th in the shot put with a longest throw of 11.11 meters.

Guthrie then came back to compete on the track in the 60 meter sprint, finishing 22nd overall with a time of 7.13 seconds.

Freshman Aaden Mapp (Indianapolis, Ind.) also took part in the 60 meter dash with a final time of 7.55 seconds to place 51st overall.

The VU men’s results on the day were rounded out in the mile race led by sophomore Caden Hostetler (LaGrange, Ind.) who placed 20th with a time of 4:33.03.

Freshman Jeremy Delobel (Velpen, Ind.), sophomore Nathan Whitehead (Vincennes, Ind.) and freshman Lane Connaway (Carmi, Ill.) were in the next group of VU finishers in the mile, with Delobel leading the pack in 27th with a time of 4:48.16.

Whitehead was close behind taking 28th place at 4:48.75 and Connaway placed 29th with a time of 4:49.26.

Freshman Hayden Kler (Hillsboro, Ind.) rounded out the group with a 34th place finish in the mile with a final time of 5:16.99.

The Trailblazer women’s Track and Field team was led by none other than two-time defending NJCAA National Champion sophomore Sophia Salvi (Sao Paulo, Brazil) who notched the third NJCAA National qualifying standard Friday by taking seventh in the pole vault after clearing 3.61 meters.

Freshman Zoe Allen (Anderson, Ind.) placed seventh in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 9.71 seconds and freshman Sara Belgacem (Tunis Tunisia) also placed seventh in 1000 meter with a final time of 3:17.25.

Belgacem was joined in the 1000 meter race by sophomores Adi Fuller (Evansville, Ind.) and Jasmyn Self (Casey, Ill.), with Fuller coming away in 11th place with a time of 3:24.11 and Self placing 14th at 3:34.68.

The team of Allen, Belgacem, Fuller and Self then teamed up for the 4×400 relay to place third overall with a final time of 4:29.94.

Freshmen Alexis Hale (Evansville, Ind.) and Allie Black (Lynn, Ind.) rounded out the Trailblazer results Friday in the 3000 meters with Hale taking home 27th overall with a time of 11:50.14 and Black placing 29th at 12:37.51.

“We had a good start to the season today,” VU Interim Head Track and Field Coach Tyler Steigenga said. “The first meet of the year doesn’t carry any major expectations. It’s more so just getting back in the competitive mindset and getting a chance to race for the first time in a while.”

“Sophia and Tony kicked off the meet with National qualifying standards in the Pole Vault,” Steigenga added. “We haven’t been able to jump in practice since before the winter break, so the goal was to come out today and just hit the qualifying standards. It took a few jumps for them to get going but once they did, they were clearing each bar with ease.”

“Zoe kicked off the running events with a PR in the 60m hurdles,” Steigenga said. “After her, in the men’s 60m Chase had a good opener and Aaden had a big PR. Caden was the first distance runner to run and ran one of his best races as a Trailblazer, resulting in a five second PR in the mile. In the following heat, Lane and Nathan also ran lifetime bests.”

“In the women’s 1000, Adi ran a PR in a solid season opening race,” Steigenga added. “The men’s 200 had some history making times. Olamipo and Malik ran the second and fourth fastest times in program history, both just off the National qualifying mark.”

“In the men’s 3000, Anis ran an excellently paced race and finished third overall in the field,” Steigenga said. “His time of 8:27 was well under the National qualifying mark and was the second fastest time in school history. Alexis also had a great race in the 3000m with a big PR as well.”

“With the 4×400 as the final race of the day, we put together some solid races on tired legs,” Steigenga added. “Malik ran a great opening leg and ArTezz came back from a decent 400 race to run a great leg on the 4×400, which ended up being two seconds faster.”

The Trailblazers will look to keep this early season success going as they prepare to head back to Louisville Friday, Jan. 24 for the PNC Bank Bellarmine Classic.

Vincennes will then head back to Louisville the following week, the third of four straight Louisville meets to open the season when VU takes part in the two-day PNC Lenny Lyles Invitational Friday, Jan. 31 and Saturday, Feb. 1.

“There were a lot of good things on the track today and overall it was a good way to open up the season,” Steigenga said. “We had some trouble with block starts today as it was a lot of the sprinter’s first times running on a banked track. It was a good experience to race in a new environment as that’s what Nationals will be like at the end of the season.”

“Everyone came into today with tired legs after some hard workouts earlier this week,” Steigenga added. “They ran well today despite that and understand that we’ve got a lot of good opportunities ahead of us this season. It will be exciting to come back next week and compete against even more competitive fields.”

VINCENNES RESULTS

MEN’S RESULTS

60m

Chase Guthrie – 22, 7.13

Aaden Mapp – 51, 7.55

200m

Olamipo Ladipo – 3, 21.71

Malik Ferdinand – 7, 21.95

Karmiel Williams – 35, 23.65

Devin Wilson – 37, 23.65

400m

Isaiah Ervin – 18, 52.13

Zion Pruitt – 19, 52.17

ArTezz Butler-Sanders – 21, 52.48

1000m

Kelvin Kipsang – 10, 2:43.84

Mile

Caden Hostetler – 20, 4:33.03

Jeremy Delobel – 27, 4:48.16

Nathan Whitehead – 28, 4:48.75

Lane Connaway – 29, 4:49.26

Hayden Kler – 34, 5:16.99

3000m

Anis Abdaoui – 3, 8:27.21

4×400 Relay

VU A (Ferdinand, Butler-Sanders, Ervin, Pruitt) – 3, 3:25.21

VU B (Williams, Wilson, Kipsang, Bradley) – 12, 3:43.08

Pole Vault

Anthony Keene – 4, 4.35m

Long Jump

Chase Guthrie – 9, 6.69m

Shot Put

Cayden Gasser – 20, 11.11m

WOMEN’S RESULTS

1000m

Sara Belgacem – 7, 3:17.25

Adi Fuller – 11, 3:24.11

Jasmyn Self – 14, 3:34.68

3000m

Alexis Hale – 27, 11:50.14

Allie Black – 29, 12:37.51

60m Hurdles

Zoe Allen – 7, 9.71

4×400 Relay

VU (Allen, Fuller, Self, Belgacem) – 3, 4:29.94

Pole Vault

Sophia Salvi – 7, 3.61m

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Hess wins 1,000m as Eagles churn out strong effort at Bellarmine

Comastri’s record-breaking day leads Eagles at Bellarmine