Defense leads Lady Trailblazers past D-II No. 22 Parkland College

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers hit the road Saturday afternoon to face their second straight Nationally ranked opponent.

VU headed to Champaign, Ill. to face off against NJCAA Division II No. 22-ranked Parkland College and came away with a strong 69-59 victory over the Cobras.

The Lady Blazers got off to an excellent start Saturday afternoon, riding a 12-0 first quarter scoring run to a 16-13 advantage after the first 10 minutes of play.

Vincennes took their game up to another level in the second quarter, turning defense into offense in transition to put up 27 points in the second quarter alone.

VU closed out the first half strong, outscoring Parkland 9-3 down the stretch to take a 43-27 lead into the halftime locker room break.

Parkland College looked to answer back as the second half began with the Cobras using a 10-0 scoring run to cut the VU lead down to 10.

VU would maintain their lead heading into the fourth quarter with the Lady Blazers holding a 53-41 advantage.

The Cobras again looked to strike early in the fourth quarter, using a 12-0 scoring run to even the score at 55-55 midway through the period.

Vincennes regained traction and weathered the storm with seven straight points and would put the game away by outscoring Parkland 7-2 to close out the game as VU finished out the 69-59 victory over host Parkland College.

The Lady Blazers were again led offensively by freshman Delora Pricop (Satu Mare, Romania), who finished the game with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Freshman Jazmyn Robey (Sellersburg, Ind.) had a big game for the Lady Blazers off the bench, scoring 14 points, adding nine rebounds and coming away with three steals.

Freshman Emani Washington (Indianapolis, Ind.) had a very good all-around game, finishing her day with 12 points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals.

Sophomore Marta Gutierrez (Alicante, Spain) was the fourth VU scorer in double figures, getting the VU offense going early with 11 points, all coming in the first half, while also leading the Lady Blazers with six assists, five steals and four rebounds.

Freshmen Iris Comesana (Vigo, Spain) and Ahmya Thomas (Phoenix, Ariz.) also got the start Saturday afternoon, with Comesana adding seven points and a pair of blocks, while Thomas battled early foul trouble to finish with five points, six assists and five steals.

Freshman Yanni Huggins (Belleville, Mich.) rounded out the Vincennes box score with the Lady Blazers only having seven active players Saturday, scoring four points and grabbing six rebounds in the game.

The VU defense stole the show Saturday afternoon, literally, forcing 26 Cobra turnovers with 17 Vincennes steals and many resulting in Lady Blazer baskets at the other end of the floor.

The Lady Blazers will look to keep this positive momentum going into next week as VU returns home to the Physical Education Complex Wednesday, Dec. 11 as Vincennes opens Region 24 play against John A. Logan College at 5 p.m.

Vincennes will then close out next week with another Saturday road game, this time heading to Robinson, Ill. to take on Lincoln Trail College at 2 p.m. eastern.

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (69): Ahmya Thomas 2-9 0-0 5, Iris Comesana 3-6 1-2 7, Marta Gutierrez 4-9 1-4 11, Emani Washington 5-19 1-2 12, Delora Pricop 6-8 4-6 16, Jazmyn Robey 5-9 3-4 14, Yanni Huggins 1-2 2-4 4, Team 26-62 12-22 69.

Parkland College – 13   14   14   18 – 59

VU (4-7) – 16   27   10   16 – 69

Three-point goals: VU 5 (Gutierrez 2, Thomas, Washington, Robey). Rebounds: VU 32 (Robey 9). Assists: VU 21 (Thomas 6, Gutierrez 6). Steals: VU 17 (Thomas 5, Gutierrez 5). Blocked Shots: VU 3 (Comesana 2). Turnovers: VU 24. Personal Fouls: VU 14. Fouled out: None.

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Aces fall short against Hilltoppers

WKU takes 79-65 win over UE 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Cam Haffner and Gabriel Pozzato tied for the game-high with 19 points as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team fell to Western Kentucky on Saturday by a final score of 79-65 at the Ford Center.

Haffner added 8 rebounds and 4 assists while Pozzato registered 7 caroms and a pair of steals.  Tayshawn Comer finished with 12 points while Connor Turnbull had 9 points and 6 blocks.

“Today was a game of runs.  I felt like we did a better job of sticking to the gameplan in the first half, but we let it get away from us in the second half,” UE head coach David Ragland said.  “We’ll get back to work tomorrow and learn what we need to from today.”

Two triples gave the Hilltoppers a 6-0 lead before Tayshawn Comer knocked down a triple to put UE on the board.  Evansville made it a 1-point game at 8-7 on a Cam Haffner basket but WKU battled back with six in a row to double up the Aces at 14-7.

Triples from Connor Turnbull and Comer helped UE cut into the deficit before a 3-pointer by Gabriel Pozzato gave Evansville its first lead of the day at 18-17 just past the halfway point of the period.  The teams swapped the lead over the next sequence as a spin-around move from Haffner saw UE retake the lead before WKU jumped back in front at 24-22 as the half approached its final six minutes.

With two minutes on the clock, Haffner’s first triple of the afternoon was followed by a Pozzato dunk that gave UE its largest advantage at 31-26.  The Hilltoppers closed with two more triples to make it a 33-32 game at halftime.

Just as he did to open the game, Comer posted the first basket of the second half and Haffner added another triple to give UE a 38-35 lead.  Trailing 39-38, WKU hit a shot in a crazy sequence that saw them force a pair of turnovers as UE worked to inbound the ball and turned it into five more points, forcing the Aces to use their first timeout of the second half with the Hilltoppers in front at 45-39.

The run continued for the Hilltoppers as they converted six out of seven attempts to take their first double figure lead at 52-41 before going up by a 55-41 score.  Just as fast as the Hilltoppers took control, Evansville stormed right back.  Haffner got things going with his third triple of the day while Pozzato followed with six in a row.  Tanner Cuff’s first trey of the game cut the deficit to 57-53.

Up 59-55, the Hilltoppers pulled away in the final minutes, utilizing a 10-0 run before taking the game by a final of 79-65.

Babacar Faye tied for the game-high with 19 points while hauling 12 boards.  The Hilltoppers finished with a 41-37 edge on the boards while outshooting UE by a 44.3%-36.1% tally.

The Aces look to get back on track when they host Chattanooga on Thursday.

-www.GoPurpleAces.com-

University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball battled to the last minute, but fell to Southern Illinois University Saturday afternoon at the Banterra Center in Carbondale, Illinois. The Screaming Eagles, whose winning streak stopped at three, are 4-5 overall this season, while the Salukis go to 4-6.

USI and SIU battled back and forth through the first 20 minutes of the game before the Salukis grabbed a 37-34 lead at the intermission. The half featured 13 combined ties and lead changes between the two teams.

The Eagles’ largest run of the half was 7-0 to snag a 28-27 lead with 2:53 left in the half, while the largest margin was three points, 11-8. USI sophomore forward Stephen Olowoniyi was the Eagles’ main offensive threat, scoring 20 of 34 first-half points.

The second half started much like the first half with the Eagles and the Salukis trading buckets until a three-point bucket by junior guard Jayland Randall put the Eagles up one, 46-45, with 14:58 left. The Salukis would respond to take back the lead and would lead by as many as eight, 62-54, with a 17-8 burst after the 10-minute mark.

USI would battle back to cut the deficit to 69-67 after a pair of Olowoniyi free throws and 72-70 on a three-pointer by Randall, but a SIU bucket and two free throws in the final 10 seconds would seal the Eagles’ fate 73-70. SIU also won the important battle of the glass, 35-24.

Olowoniyi was limited to four points in the second half and finished with a team-high and career-high 24 points. He was 10-of-11 from the field and four-of-five from the stripe.

Randall joined Olowoniyi in double-digits with 22 points, two short of a career-best. He was eight-of-14 from the field, three-of-three from downtown, and three-of-four from the stripe.

Next Up For USI:
USI begins a four-game homestand, its longest of the season, by hosting Shawnee State University December 15 at Liberty Arena. The homestand also includes the start of Ohio Valley Conference action with games versus Tennessee State University (December 19); the University of Tennessee at Martin (December 21), and Morehead State University (December 31).

Thomas’s career-high double-double leads Trailblazers to win over No. 17 Triton

VINCENNES, Ind. – VU sophomore and 2024 NJCAA All-American Lebron Thomas (Bishopville, S.C.) stepped up in a big way Saturday night, guiding the Trailblazers to a big 85-71 victory over No. 17-ranked Triton College.

Thomas got going early and helped the Blazers to victory with a career-high 39 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.

Vincennes got off to an excellent start Saturday night, opening the game with an 11-2 run over the visiting Trojans.

Triton would answer back and cut the VU lead back down to one at 19-18 before the Blazers responded with nine straight points to get the advantage back to double digits.

The two teams battled throughout the opening 20 minutes with Triton chipping away at the Vincennes lead before the break, with the Trailblazers heading into the locker room holding a 34-30 lead over Triton College.

Vincennes came out of the locker room firing early in the second half, outscoring Triton 15-7 early in the final half of play to get the lead back to 49-37.

Triton again came answering back with a 13-3 scoring run to cut the VU lead to two but again were unable to erase the Trailblazers lead as VU got the lead back to 12 at 65-53.

The Trojans continued to fight and cut the lead down to five but Vincennes responded with five straight points to get a 70-60 lead.

VU was able to hold on to this lead down the stretch as Vincennes put the game away late at the free throw line to close out a big 85-71 wire-to-wire victory over the Trojans.

“I thought tonight was another step forward for us,” VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. “We’re still not a finished product at all and we’re not going to be for a little while. We just want to keep getting better and get more competitive and I thought we did both of those tonight.”

“I think we’ve had a pretty good week,” Franklin added. “Mineral Area on Sunday, I think Mineral Area is good. It was a really good ball game that could have gone either way. I thought we played better in that game then we have. I thought it was a step up and I think they are right there in that top 20 to 25. Then after a little bit of a slow start, I thought we handled Schoolcraft the way you hoped we would moving forward. Then tonight we took on another top 20 team and I thought we took another step forward. It’s a 2-1 week record wise, but it’s still a good week. That’s just part of our team right now.”

“We’re playing good teams every night and our team isn’t all the way there yet, but we are where we are,” Franklin said. “We’re probably a top 25 to 30 team legitimately and we can play with anybody. And we will see if we can get good enough over the next month or two where we separate from everybody. We’re in that pool. Southeastern Iowa is top five in the country, we’ve been on the floor with them. We’ve felt the levels and our opponent Wednesday night has done the same.”

“Logan has played good people,” Franklin added. “They are going to be talented and they’ve gotten better. They have improved. They are much like us, they have gotten better over the last month playing in these games. They’ve lost some games and won some games. They’ve been competitive in most all of the games. That’s just the nature of this year. There’s no dominant team to start out and there are some of us that I think can be pretty good that are in a race to see how far we can get and I thought we got better tonight.”

The Trailblazers were led offensively by sophomore and 2024 NJCAA All-American Lebron Thomas who came through with 39 points, 10 rebounds and a team-high six assists, while hitting 15 of 15 shots from the free throw line.

Sophomore Michael Cooper (Minneapolis, Minn.) closed out his night with 15 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Freshman Kenaz Ochogwu (E. Providence, R.I.) was the third VU scorer in double figures, ending his night with 11 points and five rebounds.

Freshman Dayton Williams (Louisville, Ky.) added eight points, three assists, three rebounds and a pair of steals and freshman Jalen Calloway (Chicago, Ill.) finished seven points, three rebounds and three assists off the bench.

“We keep telling Kenaz that the difference between him and Lony Francis, they are a little different players but they are in the same type of role,” Franklin said. “In their freshman year, Lony ended up being an All-American because we had a really good team and he got to be a guy that could score inside. Really the only difference is that Lony listened to what we said, mastered those simple things and then he went out there like a killer. ‘You’re going to have to stop me and I don’t think you can’ kind of thing. If Kenaz has that same attitude, he can do those same types of things. You saw that in the second half where he got a little bit of that. His ceiling is every bit as high as Lony’s was. Now will he do that? We’ll see. But you can see glimpses of that in the second half tonight.”

“We gave Dayton the defensive assignment of Anderson,” Franklin added. “We thought his length could bother him and it did. He’s their man guy and main scorer and Dayton bothered him and that’s a big part of the game. Dayton might have only had eight points but that’s a big part of the ball game taking him and neutralizing him.”

“We got contributions from everybody that played I thought,” Franklin said. “It’s a night where Lebron puts up big numbers but I still thought it was a good team effort across the board. Again, we’re not going to be perfect. I’m literally teaching this team how to compete and the intensity level. We’re getting closer and I thought this week we were closer and by the end of the week we are a better team than we were even on Sunday.”

The Trailblazers will look to keep this momentum going as they get set to start Region 24 play next week when VU hosts John A. Logan College Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. eastern inside the Physical Education Complex.

Vincennes will then hit the road next weekend to face Lincoln Trail College Saturday, Dec. 14 in Robinson, Ill. That game will tip-off at 4 p.m. eastern.

“It’s a tough time, playing a game right in the middle of finals week,” Franklin said. “There are a lot of factors that go into this game. But it’s a big game. Both of us will be very different by March when it really counts. I think both of us are going to evolve a lot. But it’s still going to count as the first game in the District standings and it’s our time and we’ve got them at home.”

“Hopefully we can get a bunch of people out here next week and help us out with it,” Franklin added. “And hopefully we evolve one more step from tonight and we can get even better at the things that we improved on this week. As I’ve said many times, it’s about the individual players evolving into their roles and taking that on and getting better. That’s what you saw this week. We’ve kind of got it now where we’ve got a good idea of what we are supposed to do to function. We’ll keep tweaking but we’ve got an idea now, so now it should just be about going out there and playing. Now it’s really about perfecting your craft, learning how to really compete, learning how to play with that right kind of intensity for the whole two-hour period. Those are the things I thought we got better at.”

“Things like playing against a zone,” Franklin said. “We’ve had time to prepare and work on it. You see they played a zone in the second half and we were able to do some things to be able to pick it apart at times and they’ve got more weapons to use against that now. So all of those things have added up and we’ll see where we are on Wednesday. I like where we are trending but we’ve got to get hungry for it. We’ve got to say, we see where this is going and now when I see them again Monday morning in the weight room, we want more of it. If we have that, now we really are going somewhere. So we’ll know Monday when we get back to work if they want more.”

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (85): Bryan Akanmu 2-6 1-3 5, Michael Cooper 3-9 9-11 15, Kenaz Ochogwu 5-6 1-2 11, Lebron Thomas 12-22 15-15 39, Dayton Williams 4-8 0-0 8, Christian Andrews 0-2 0-0 0, Jalen Calloway 2-3 2-4 7, Ali Sakho 0-0 0-0 0, Team 28-56 28-35 85.

Triton – 30   41 – 75

VU (8-3) – 34   51 – 85

Three-point goals: VU 1 (Calloway). Rebounds: VU 38 (Thomas 10). Assists: VU 17 (Thomas 6). Steals: VU 5 (Williams 2). Blocked Shots: VU 4 (Ochogwu, Thomas, Williams, Andrews). Turnovers: VU 15. Personal Fouls: VU 18. Fouled out: None. Technical Fouls: Akanmu (1st – 0:17).