Medical Office Asst Float Deaconess Health System  3.5  – Evansville, IN
Assists in coordinating patient payments, posting charges, issuing receipts and posting payments and other duties as assigned. Float Job Duties may include: 4 days ago
Patient Care Technician Deaconess Health System  3.5 We require ACLS and encourage certifications and continued education. We are a 32 bed unit consisting of private rooms. Schedule: Full Time – 72, Day/Evening. 2 days ago
Outreach Phlebotomist Deaconess Health System  3.5 Current driver’s license and clean driving record. We pride ourselves in retaining our top talent by offering work environments that support professional… 2 days ago
IL RN Deaconess Illinois  3.5 Deaconess Illinois is part of the largest employer in the tristate region, and operates under the direction of a local board, with a local focus. 2 days ago
Emergency Services Technician Deaconess Health System  3.5 As an Emergency Services Tech, you will play a critical role in continuing the healing mission of Deaconess. Schedule: Full Time – 72, Evening. 2 days ago
Team Leader RN CAH – Emergency Room Deaconess Health System  3.5 Easily apply
Current licensure as a Registered Nurse in the state of practice. Minimum two years nursing experience and at least one year nursing experience in specialty… 4 days ago
Diabetes Clinician PRN/Supplemental (RN) Deaconess Health System  3.5 Current unrestricted state nursing license which allows work in both Indiana and Kentucky (licensed in both states or compact license). 4 days ago
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Clinic RN, LPN, CMA or RMA – rooming nurse Deaconess Health System  3.5 Active LPN license in state of employment. Active RN license in state of employment. Current certification/license from one of the below: 5 days ago
Pharmacy Technician Deaconess Health System  3.5 $16.00 – $20.34 an hour Must be licensed or qualify for license in the State of Indiana. Deaconess Health System is the largest employer in the tri-state region, and operates under the… 3 days ago
Deaconess Health
Osei-Bonsu’s big double-double gives short-handed No. 5 Trailblazers win at No. 12 Moberly Area
MOBERLY, Mo. – The No. 5-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers faced another tough test Saturday night, closing out the 2023 Moberly Area Community College Thanksgiving Classic against host and No. 12-ranked Moberly Area.
The Trailblazers led throughout most of the game but found themselves in a back-and-forth battle in the second half before pulling away at the end to pick up the 76-67 victory over the Greyhounds.
Vincennes got off to a running start over the host Greyhounds Saturday night, scoring the first seven points of the game and later building a 23-9 lead midway through the first half of play.
Moberly Area looked to answer back before halftime and used an 11-2 scoring run to cut the deficit down to five.
VU would get the lead back to eight before the halftime break, heading into the locker room holding a 30-22 lead over Moberly.
Moberly Area struck first to start the second half, with the Greyhounds using a 9-0 run to take their first lead of the game at 41-40.
The Trailblazers would grab the lead back and take a 55-48 lead before the Greyhounds again answered back with a 13-2 scoring run to take a 61-57 lead with under seven minutes to play.
Vincennes would swing the momentum back with a 13-4 scoring run of their own to take a 70-65 lead with under two minutes remaining.
After a Moberly layup cut the VU lead down to just three, the Trailblazers closed out the game at the free throw line, scoring the final six points of the night to come away with the 76-67 victory over the Greyhounds.
“Mostly it was just guts,†VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. “We’re running on fumes right now and we haven’t had a practice day in a week where we’ve had anywhere near everybody on the floor and even if they were, they were just getting through it.â€
The Trailblazers entered the night with only 10 active players, with sophomores Victor Lado (Louisville, Ky.) and starter Kris King (Washington, D.C.) out with illness Saturday night.
Vincennes picked up some big performances first by freshman Lebron Thomas (Bishopville, S.C.) who led the Blazers with 26 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and hit 13 out of 16 free throw attempts to help seal the victory.
Sophomore Ryan Oliver (Antioch, Tenn.) stepped into the lineup for Kris King and finished with 18 points, four rebounds and a pair of assists, including hitting four big three-pointers in the second half.
The story of the night however was sophomore Michael Osei-Bonsu (Bolingbrook, Ill.) who controlled the glass all night to finish with 17 points and an outstanding 18 rebounds for the Blazers, his third double-double of the season.
Sophomore Karyiek Dixon (Enfield, London, UK) just missed out on a double-double of his own, ending with eight points and 11 rebounds, while also collecting three big blocks.
“To play tonight, in this game, without Kris, because we thought he could help us as a stretch four against their style of play,†Franklin added. “And you take him out completely, I can’t be prouder that our guys had the resolve to do it.â€
“You look at the big three tonight with Lebron, we never took him out,†Franklin said. “He played 40 minutes and he’s been under the weather a bit like all of them. Ryan Oliver chased their scorer around defensively and you’ve got to play him all over the floor because he can hit from 25, 26, 27 feet out consistently. Ryan’s job was to chase him, don’t give him a right-hand drive. You’re fighting off screens and it’s a tremendous effort. Then for him to still have the legs to bust those shots in the second half, when we needed a guy to do it, because they were giving it. We had hurt them in the other areas, so we were imploring him to do that and then he did.â€
“We went to those areas to attack and knew if they were going to come off, we put him in the spots and he drilled them and those were huge,†Franklin added. “Then you have Michael. He just dominated the glass. That man just ate that glass. And you know we’re eating the glass big when Karyiek has 11 and it doesn’t sound like much. But Michael, anything that was up there, he got it. Those three guys were just stalwarts and stalwarts down the stretch.â€
“I thought Alphonse gave us some really good minutes in the first half that were key when we had two fouls on Karyiek and Michael,†Franklin said. “I thought Karyiek started to get some things done on the glass as the game went along and made some big plays there. Just across the board. But I can’t say anything but positive things about this group in terms of their toughness and resolve because I knew we would try to fight today. I really did and I thought that if we could fight and do things right that we would have a pretty good chance. But I just didn’t know if we were going to be capable and man, we were. I’m just really proud of them.â€
The Trailblazers will return home for their next game, Saturday, Dec. 2, when VU hosts Elgin Community College from Elgin, Ill. into the Physical Education Complex. Tip-off time next Saturday is scheduled for 7 p.m. eastern.
“Like everything else, we just want to take away the fact of the intensity level that you have to play with,†Franklin said. “What we’re expecting and what we’re demanding. When we’re pushing, why we’re pushing. I think it’s becoming clearer all the time what it takes to play for us. I think it’s a misnomer, everybody thinks it’s hard to play for us, it’s not hard to play for us. You’ve just got to know your job and you’ve got to work every day to get as good at your job as you can. You’ve got to know those assignments, so when you go into the game you can just play the heck out of it.â€
“We don’t want scared and we don’t want tentative,†Franklin added. “And we don’t want where you’re not knowing your job. We try to keep your job pretty simple and pretty repetitive every day and if you don’t do that, then we ain’t happy. But once you get across that bridge and understand what that is, I always think that’s the best way to play, not only winning wise, but it’s the most fun way to play. So we’re trying to get them across that bridge and tonight was another one of those steps of guys learning so you can get the best out of them and when the game is over you know that you’ve emptied the tank correctly and you can start trusting the guy next to you.â€
“Hopefully we’ve built some trust and we’ve still got some guys that have a ways to go there,†Franklin said. “They’re still learning and we’re up and down some with it. But I think that’s the key. That’s the key to our team and it’s always the key to our team. That’s why when those guys get it, the swear by it and they’d always come back and play for us. It’s not that hard, once you understand and we’re in that process of getting that. Because you can see how important that is. Those are the things that win and lose these basketball games. Knowing your job and doing the heck out of it. You don’t have any fear of that other bunch, you are going to go at them.â€
“We don’t want to play in fear,†Franklin added. “We want to play aggressive, but smart. I think you can see some of those things tonight from Ryan. Whether he made those shots or not, he stepped into those shots at the right time. They were the right shot. He was ready at the right time and you shoot that ball like you mean to hit the bottom of that net at that point. That’s when you do it. He did that and you see what happens. You give yourself a chance to be a good player and if you don’t, then you leave the game thinking, ‘well, I did everything I could. I was prepared. I busted it. I knew what I was doing. I attacked it.’ If I fall short, I know I’m not going to be happy about it, but I’ll go back to work and try to be better tomorrow. That’s it and it’s really simplistic when you say it but it’s hard to get everybody to that. I think we’re building to that and I think when we get to that we are going to be a hard team to beat. Obviously, we’re a pretty hard team to beat right now.â€
VINCENNES BOX SCORE
VINCENNES (76): Â Ryan Oliver 7-14 0-0 18, Kent King 0-3 0-0 0, Lebron Thomas 6-15 13-16 26, Michael Osei-Bonsu 8-12 1-1 17, Karyiek Dixon 4-9 0-2 8, Damarien Yates 1-4 0-0 3, Gerard Thomas 0-1 0-0 0, Mathieu Nader-Kalombo 0-7 0-0 0, Alphonse Muteba 1-3 2-3 4, Team 27-68 16-22 76.
VU (9-0) – 30    46 – 76
Moberly Area – 22    45 – 67
Three-point goals: VU 6 (Oliver 4, L. Thomas, Yates). Rebounds: VU 50 (Osei-Bonsu 18). Assists: VU 16 (L. Thomas 7). Steals: VU 7 (Osei-Bonsu 2, Dixon 2). Blocked shots: VU 4 (Dixon 3). Turnovers: VU 16. Personal Fouls: VU 12. Fouled out: None.
EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT
FOOTNOTE: Â EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT information was provided by the EPD and posted by the City-County-County Observer without opinion, bias, or editing.
Give Peace A Chance
Give peace a chance
John Krull, publisher, TheStatehouseFile.com
“In war, truth is the first casualty,†Aeschylus wrote more than 2,500 years ago.
The centuries since 550 BCE, when Aeschylus offered that insight, have only established its wisdom.
When combat comes, the blood flowing and the bodies falling force people into camps. Loyalty becomes the paramount virtue. Every event—every fact—must be run through the filter that is one’s primary allegiance, making independent and critical assessments of what is happening and how we got to this point difficult, if not impossible.
We’re seeing that now in the war between Israel and Hamas.
That conflict has carved out deep divisions not just in the Middle East but around the globe, including the United States. Discussions have fast escalated into debates, then to arguments, then to angry disputes.
As is usually the case, the two sides in the dispute have a few things in common.
Both sides insist that their people are the victims in the conflict. That their cause alone is just—and therefore their violent acts alone are justified. And that the other side started the fight.
The reality is, as it always is, more complicated than that.
Wars are launched and waged by human beings, which means they are, by definition, flawed and messy enterprises. Because the stakes—life and death—are so high, the motivation to find fault with anyone who doesn’t agree unreservedly with one’s cause or methods is intense, even overwhelming.
Hence, Aeschylus’ observation about war’s first casualty.
But the truth is that no side in a war ever has a monopoly on virtue, on wisdom, on victimhood, on suffering, on grief.
Or on death.
Contrary to unquestioning partisans on both sides of this conflict, it is possible to keep at least two truths in mind at the same time.
The first is that the Oct. 7 sneak attack on Israel by Hamas was and is morally indefensible. The mass murder of civilians, rape of defenseless women, slaughter of innocent children, indiscriminate beheadings of noncombatants and taking of hostages, many of them ill and elderly, can in no way be legitimized by any sense of grievance.
Anyone who does not acknowledge this truth—or denies the vicious evil of such butchery—lacks a moral compass.
That does not mean, though, that the Palestinians in Gaza do not have valid grievances. Israel’s response to those grievances through decades has been at best cursory and at worst callous or even cruel.
Just as the suffering of the people cannot be used to rationalize the brutality of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the thuggish amorality of that attack cannot be used to dismiss the just complaints of the people of Gaza.
The truth remains the truth, even when war tries to stack it among the corpses.
There will be no resolution to this horrible conflict until the leaders on all sides realize that—and understand that peace is the only path forward.
The cease-fire that has allowed for hostages to be released demonstrates that.
This temporary stop in the killing is merely a repositioning for continued bloodshed.
The Israelis are trading time to clear their own citizens from the field of battle, thus making it easier for the nation’s armed forces to open fire without fear of killing some of their own.
When the fighting resumes, the Israelis are likely to use even deadlier force than they already have.
Hamas, on the other hand, has been battered by the Israeli response to their attack. The time they buy by releasing hostages here and there allows the terrorists to regroup and retrench, once again using civilians—this time, people from their own side—as human shields against the Israeli forces intent on exacting vengeance.
When the fighting resumes, Hamas will be even more dug in, making the warfare even more savage than before.
Blood and murder will continue to beget blood and murder until leaders on both sides recognize that maybe, just maybe, the other side has a point, too.
War won’t help them grasp that because war never offers an answer to suffering. It merely adds to it.
“War is cruelty,†U.S. Civil War Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman said, “and you cannot refine it.â€
That was the truth when he said it.
It’s the truth now.
FOOTNOTE: John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students. The views expressed are those of the author only and should not be attributed to Franklin College.
SEEKING CHANGE: Events like Period Action Day highlight differences
SEEKING CHANGE: Events like Period Action Day highlight the differences
By Marilyn Odendahl
The Indiana Citizen
November 25, 2023
Before they try to sway lawmakers, activists first have to decide how they will advocate – mass protest, march, sit-in or informed discussion.
And when the issue is as contentious, and potentially embarrassing, as the desire to stop charging state sales tax on feminine hygiene products, determining how to push for change can be especially tricky.
MADVoters Indiana, a nonpartisan grassroots organization, plans to ramp up its advocacy for eliminating the “tampon tax†by holding a rally in January as the 2024 legislative session gets underway and then testifying at committee hearings during the session. But the group started its effort by hosting a Period Action Day on Wednesday at the Statehouse and focused on educating and informing through simple conversations.
Bills and amendments to end the sales tax on menstrual products that have been introduced in the Indiana General Assembly have been mostly met with silence. During the 2023 session, state Sens. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington and Kyle Walker, R-Indianapolis, authored House Bill 259, which would have eliminated the sales tax on feminine hygiene products, but it never received a hearing.
More than an inconvenience, the sales tax is a financial burden with one in four menstruating women in Indiana struggling to pay for feminine products, according to information from MADVoters. Each year, the sales tax costs Hoosier women an estimated $5.6 million.
In planning the action day, Chelsea McDonnell, co-founder of MADVoters Indiana, said her organization wanted to focus on educating and helping people understand the burden of the sales tax. The nonprofit picked a day when several interim study committees were meeting, so many lawmakers would be in the building.
“We tried to take a more holistic approach to reaching people,†McDonnell said. “That includes treating the whole person and in order to do that, we have to be willing to meet people where they are and educate them and be the ones that start the conversation in a positive manner.â€
The approach contrasted with the protesters who filled the Statehouse when the legislature was debating controversial bills that would restrict abortion and ban transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports. At those times, the protesters waved handmade signs and yelled continually, while legislators were inside their chambers debating the bills.
Advocating for change is part of civic engagement, but does one form of public demonstrating work better than others?
Katie Blair, director of advocacy and public policy for the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, said the different ways to raise awareness and push an issue all have their place. An advocacy day, like the Period Action Day, can do a lot to teach people about a topic or problem and build momentum to advance legislation. However, “when things take a right turn at the Statehouse,†then a protest can be an effective response.
“I think they both serve different purposes but very important purposes,†Blair said.
Questions lead to education
Several other organizations joined MADVoters to support Period Action Day, including the ACLU of Indiana, Women4Change, Love HER League and the All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center. Staff members and volunteers from the different groups passed out brochures, collected emails and talked to anyone who stopped by.
Also, MADVoters was collecting donated packages of pads and tampons which would then be given to abused and battered women. The table piled high with boxes and bags underscored McDonnell’s point that paying for these products month after month is a hardship for low-income women and girls.
Amanda Eldridge, a MADVoters volunteer, was working at the game table. T-shirts, pens, stickers and small, zippered cloth bags stuffed with pads were spread across the tabletop. A couple of trivia boards posed questions about menstruation and the sales tax.
The trivia game, Eldridge said, helped start conversations about feminine hygiene products and period poverty which, admittedly, are not the usual topics of public discussions. People often got the answers to their trivia questions wrong and that led them to ask more questions.
A handful of Democratic legislators milled around the tables and talked to their constituents. McDonnell said her group invited all state senators and representatives to the event and sent emails asking each of them to eliminate the tax on feminine products.
McDonnell speculated the loss of revenue for state coffers was fueling the resistance to changing the tax code. “Money is the main motivator,†she said, and lawmakers do not want to give up those dollars by ending the sales tax on feminine products.
She also acknowledged legislators might be reluctant to debate lifting the sales tax because they are uncomfortable and squeamish over talking about women’s monthly menstruation cycles.
“I’m sure that’s a part of it in some ways,†McDonnell said. “But, you know, if all these people were able to talk about abortion for months, I don’t know why we can’t talk about periods, which we need those in order to get pregnant.â€
Senate Minority Leader Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis, spent some time at the event. He said the first step to removing the sales tax on menstrual products is to determine the fiscal impact on the state. Also key to moving the legislation forward is showing how the tax affects every Hoosier household, bolstering the argument that many will benefit if the sales tax is nixed.
Taylor liked the approach MADVoters was taking to advance the issue. He said engaging in calm discussion to educate and build understanding “has always been more successful†than confrontation and demanding support.
“With all the frustrating politics that we have across the country going to today, it is nice to see this type of peaceful protest, so to speak, information-gathering for legislators,†Taylor said. “For me, you tune out people who just get in your face and holler, because it’s really not providing any good information.â€
Pressure tactic, making an impact
Blair noted the message can be lost if the advocacy day or protest is not well-organized and well-attended. Legislators will interpret that low turnout as a lack of interest in the issue. Conversely, mobilizing large groups to rally at the Statehouse can show “you have an army behind you.â€
And when large groups are waving signs, yelling and chanting, that can scuttle controversial bills by showing lawmakers that “legislation cannot pass in the dark,†Blair said. She pointed to the rash of anti-Critical Race Theory bills that sprouted during the 2022 General Assembly session. Protests that rose in response helped block that legislation.
Blair said lawmakers need to know people are watching the Statehouse. “It’s really critical for this not to feel like it’s something that’s just happening behind closed doors without the voice of Hoosiers,†she said.
Along with calm conversations, MADVoters was using a pressure tactic during the action day.
The organization encouraged women to gather their sales receipts from the purchase of feminine products and submit them with a tax refund request to the Indiana Department of Revenue. McDonnell explained that mailing the receipts to the revenue department would emphasize the financial burden of the tax.
She did not see the potential for the effort to backfire, since it would show legislators how much tax revenue is collected on the products. Instead, she said, the extra work created in the revenue department by having to open each envelope, pull out the form and input the information into the computer, would foster more calls for change.
“I think this will be a good way to wake people up who aren’t necessarily involved, but who will be involved in the process of filing these things,†McDonnell said. “And then you also have to think about the legislators who might be getting phone calls, (from revenue officials who say), ‘I don’t ever want to deal with this at work again. Can we do something about this?’â€
Megan Flynn, a third-year law student at New York University who was representing the national organization Period Law, was working at the receipt table, helping women fill out the paper refund forms. The 28-year-old has participated in Black Lives Matter protests, been a regular at the Women’s March, joined a community activist group to raise awareness about reproductive rights, and talked to legislators about asylum and immigration issues.
The large protests and marches can make an impact, when “they are so widespread and in strategic locations where they can’t be ignored,†Flynn said. But she sees the kind of advocacy practiced during the Period Action Day as doing more to bring about change.
“The times when I feel like I have the most impact is not really those protest-type situations, but when I get to talk to legislators or their staff directly, which can be really hard to find those opportunities,†Flynn said. “I have written a lot of postcards and done a lot of phone calling and can feel there’s not a lot of validation as to what impact that is having.â€
Dwight Adams, a freelance editor and writer based in Indianapolis, edited this article. He is a former content editor, copy editor and digital producer at The Indianapolis Star and IndyStar.com, and worked as a planner for other newspapers, including the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Evansville erases 20-point deficit to pick up overtime win
Evansville erases 20-point deficit to pick up overtime win
Aces defeat Mocs by a final of 85-77Â
NOVEMBER 25, 2023
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Trailing by as many as 20 points in the second half, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team staged one of the largest rallies in Missouri Valley Conference history to defeat Chattanooga in overtime by a final of 85-77 inside McKenzie Arena.
With 11:40 remaining in regulation, the Purple Aces trailed Chattanooga by a 62-42 margin. From that point on, UE outscored the Mocs by a 43-15 margin to pick up the improbable road win. Chattanooga was shooting 53.3% (24-of-45) from the field and 47.8% (11-of-23) at that point. Over the final portion of regulation and overtime, the defense for UE held the Mocs to 4-for-24 from the field and 3-of-18 from long range (both 16.7%). The comeback by Evansville tied the 8th-largest comeback in MVC history.
“This was a huge win for us; our guys never gave up and we continued to battle regardless of how many points we were down,†Purple Aces head coach David Ragland explained. “We challenged the group with about 11:40 left and said, “Do we believe?â€Â Seeing the looks in their eyes, we could see that they believed and they responded the right way.â€
Evansville’s win gives the program its best start since an identical 5-0 mark to open the 2017-18 campaign while matching the win total from the entire 2022-23 season. Anchoring the comeback was Ben Humrichous. He finished with a game-high 28 points, 18 of which came during the Aces comeback. He was 11-for-21 from the floor while draining five triples. Antonio Thomas finished with 11 points while Tanner Cuff and Chuck Bailey III scored 10 and 9, respectively. Cuff picked up his first double-double at UE, hauling in 11 rebounds.
Yacine Toumi hit his second triple of the season to open the scoring as the Aces began the day with a 7-2 lead. Ben Humrichous and Antonio Thomas added baskets in the early stretch. The Mocs rallied right back with seven in a row to take their first lead of the afternoon at 9-7 five minutes in. Cam Haffner tied the score with a floater, but the Chattanooga run continued as they tacked on five more to go up 14-9. In total, the Mocs outscored UE by a 12-2 margin.
Ben Humrichous hit from downtown and Tanner Cuff added his first basket of the day as the Aces tied it up at 14-14 at the 13:09 mark. Another 3-pointer put Chattanooga back on top, but UE staged a rally of its own to go up 24-20 near the midway point of the period. Gage Bobe hit a triple to highlight the run.
Things continued to go back and forth with Humrichous’ second long ball of the day knotting the score at 29-29 with exactly four minutes showing on the clock. Over the final minutes of the stanza, the Mocs would retake the advantage and head to halftime up by a 40-36 score. Humrichous had a game-high 10 points in the opening 20 minutes.
In the win over Ball State, Evansville outscored the opposition by a 17-0 margin in the opening moments of the latter half. It was a different story on Friday with UTC doing the damage. Six in a row by the Mocs, coupled with a 0-for-7 start by the Aces, made it a 46-36 contest in the first three minutes. After Evansville scored four in a row, Chattanooga reeled off 13 consecutive points to cap off a 19-4 run to open the half and go up 59-40.
Chattanooga extended the lead to 20 (62-42) before the Aces fought back. Bobe’s second triple completed a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 13 with 9:13 left in the contest. Two minutes later, Humrichous made it ten Evansville points in a row with another triple to cut the Mocs lead to 62-52. Rudy Fitzgibbons III ended a scoreless stretch that exceeded five minutes with a three, but the Aces posted the next four to make it a 65-56 game entering the final five minutes.
Another triple by the Mocs reestablished the double figure lead on the ensuing possession, but Tanner Cuff immediately drained a three to make it a 9-point game once again. With 3:31 on the clock, Joshua Hughes nailed a triple that got his squad within six tallies. As the contest entered its final two minutes, Humrichous took full control. With 2:06 remaining, his triple made it a 3-point game and, following a Chattanooga turnover, he was true from outside once again to tie the score at 68-68 with 98 ticks left.
Two free throw misses by the Mocs gave the ball back to UE and Humrichous converted a jumper to give the Aces their first lead since the first half. UTC knocked down a pair of free throw tries with 33 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
Riding the wave of momentum from their comeback, the Aces got right back to work in overtime. Humrichous had a 3-point play to get things started while Antonio Thomas hit a pair of free throws to make it a 75-70 game less than a minute in. Thomas added a field goal and Cuff converted a pair of free throws to cap off a 9-0 run to open the OT period. Chattanooga posted its first overtime points with 1:02 remaining, but the UE lead was too much to overcome. As the clock reached zeroes, Evansville finished off an 85-77 triumph.
Five Mocs reached double figures with Honor Huff tallying 17. Sam Alexis registered 10 points while hauling in a game-high 15 boards. Evansville finished with a 41-39 rebounding edge while outshooting the Mocs by a 42.6%-40.6% tally.
Tomorrow, the Aces complete the Coke Zero Sugar Classic against Southeast Missouri State. Tip is set for 1 p.m. CT.
Organization Day kicks off 2024 legislative session
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This week, Hoosier lawmakers gathered at the Statehouse in Indianapolis for Organization Day, which is the official start to the 2024 legislative session. Session kickoff is an exciting and important opportunity to meet with fellow policymakers to discuss issues facing our communities and state, and make plans for the session ahead. |
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Lawmakers won’t return for session until Jan. 8 and must complete their work before the March 14 deadline. Please stay connected with me as January approaches and proposals for new laws come before the legislature for consideration. I can be reached at h76@iga.in.gov or by calling 317-232-9600.
Another great resource to stay involved and informed is by visiting iga.in.gov, which is the Indiana General Assembly’s website providing helpful information on proposals for new laws, and on committee hearings and session meetings.I look forward to working hard on behalf of our community and delivering results for House District 76. |
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Eagles falls short against #9 Blue Devils
USI starts 3-GM homestand next week
DURHAM, N.C. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball concluded the Duke Blue Devil Challenge with an 80-62 loss to ninth-ranked Duke University Friday evening at the Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. The Screaming Eagles are 1-6 after tonight’s action, while the Blue Devils are 5-1 to begin the season.
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The Eagles stunned the Blue Devils in the first five minutes of the game, quickly building a 10-point lead, 15-5, when the first media time out was called. USI would go on to lead by 10 points six different times during in the first 20 minutes.
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Following USI pushing the lead back to 10, 32-22, with 5:02 left in the half, Duke used a 9-3 run to close the gap to four, 35-31, at the break. USI was led in the first half by sophomore guard/forward AJ Smith (Edwardsville, Illinois), who had 11 points and nine rebounds.
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Junior guard Jeremiah Hernandez (Chicago, Illinois) and sophomore guard Jack Campion (Milton, Wisconsin) followed Smith in the first half with seven points each. Campion also had a team-high three assists in the opening half and would tie a career-best with seven assists in the contest. Â
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The second half saw Duke exploded out of the locker room with an 11-0 run to take the lead for the first time since the opening minutes, 42-35, its largest lead to that point. The Duke lead expanded to as many as 16 points, 58-42, but USI was not done.
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The Eagles used a 6-0 run that was capped off by a dunk by sophomore forward Kiyron Powell (Evansville, Indiana) to close the gap to nine points, 58-49. The nine-point deficit would be as close as the Eagles would come the rest of the way.
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Duke hit the gas one more time in the final five minutes and outscored USI, 22-13, the rest of the way to close out the 80-62 final.
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In the scoring column, USI was lead by Hernandez’s team-high 15 points. The junior guard, who had eight points in the second half, was five-of-13 from the field, including a three, and four-of-four from the stripe.
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Junior guard/forward Javius Moore (McComb, Mississippi) and Smith followed with 11 points each to round out the double-digit scorers. Moore was a blistering four-of-six from the field and three-of-four from beyond the arc.
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Smith finished the game with a team-high 13 points to produce his third double-double of the season. Twelve of Smith’s 13 boards came on the defensive end.
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Next Up For USI:
The Eagles return to the friendly surroundings of Screaming Eagles Arena next week to start a three-game homestand. USI begins the homestand Tuesday (November 28) by hosting East/West University at 7 p.m.
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East/West, which will be making its first appearance at Screaming Eagles Arena, is 3-9 this season and 1-4 in its last five games.
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The homestand will continue December 2 when USI hosts Bowling Green State University and concludes December 6 versus Purdue University Ft. Wayne. Tipoff versus Bowling Green is 3 p.m., while tipoff against Ft. Wayne is slated for 7 p.m.
No. 5 Trailblazers pick up first win away from home over State Fair C.C.
MOBERLY, Mo. – The No. 5-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers faced their first game away from the Physical Education Complex this season and were able to come away with a 78-69 victory over State Fair Community College at the Moberly Area C.C. Thanksgiving Classic.
Vincennes got off to a slow start Friday afternoon, turning the ball over four times in the first four minutes of the game and found themselves facing a 16-12 deficit midway through the first half.
VU would score five unanswered to grab the lead back at 19-18, one of 11 lead changes during the opening half of play.
The two teams continued to battle, with VU looking to grab the momentum with an open dunk by freshman Damarien Yates (Somerville, Tenn.) and freshman Lebron Thomas (Bishopville, S.C.) connecting on three of three from the free throw line to give the Blazers a 35-30 advantage.
The Roadrunners answered back before the half, cutting the deficit to two and heading into the halftime break trailing Vincennes 38-36.
State Fair continued to ride this momentum in the second half, taking the lead back at 49-48.
The lead changed hands eight times in under five minutes before VU looked to take control with a 6-0 scoring run to lead 67-61.
State Fair again would answer back, cutting the lead back down to two, but were unable to take the lead back as VU closed out the game to pick up the 78-69 victory.
“At the end of the day, we were a little bit more efficient offensively than they were,†VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. “I think that if you look at both teams, when you look at shooting the ball and putting the ball into the basket, lack of turnovers, hitting threes, it was a high quality game. I tip my hat to State Fair. I thought State Fair played the heck out of it today.â€
“When you look at the shooting numbers, they were 25 of 48, 8 of 18 from three and 11 of 14 from the free throw line,†Franklin added. “They had 11 turnovers. We got a few as the game went along. I thought they played really well. I thought they made us pay.â€
“I thought the key to the game though, when we couldn’t get away from them enough, was we let Alex Gunnels have,†Franklin said. “Because at the end of the day, you can’t have the secondary guys go to the thing that they do and that really bothered me on that sideline. We knew he was going to drive it right. He had the one bank in three, those things happen, but he had about four or five layups going to his right, right from the top where we did not follow the assignment. If you follow the assignment on him, he’s not going to get that and he ends up with 19 points.â€
“When you are playing somebody that is play well like they did and you have to dig the game out, it’s hard enough when their good players are going, which they were,†Franklin added. “But you can’t let the secondary guy beat you. Particularly to the one thing you know in the scouting report, that’s what he’s going to do. That’s a lesson we are going to have to learn. We are going to get tougher minded about those things.â€
“But I thought, other than that, we didn’t finish on two situations when we went to the foul line when I thought we were about to extend the lead and get it to eight or 10,†Franklin said. “We played fine because we got to the line on two different trips and we went 0 for 4. We missed one front end of a bonus and two free throws, out of four points we got none. Then the next trip down we had a point blank shot and then a tip-in at point blank and it ended up being knocked out and being a bucket going the other way. So out of three possessions when we had all free throws and layups, we ended up with no points and they ended up with a layup.â€
“But we made the plays,†Franklin added. “When you look at our numbers, we’re 27 of 52 and nine of 16 from three and I don’t think we took a bad one. We were patient. Sometimes almost too patient and weren’t ready a few catches. But we were patient. We found the shooters and were able to get a quality, balanced shot up and guys made them. 15 of 23 on free throws, we’d like to get a little better from the line. We only had 10 turnovers. We had a few tentative, sloppy ones in the first half that gave them a little courage. But we only ended with 10 for the game.â€
“At the end of the day, you tip your hat to State Fair,†Franklin said. “I don’t know if they will play like this every day or not. But if they play like this, they are going to win a lot of ball games. They were a plenty good enough team today to give most people a run for their money. Because we shot it and handled it and didn’t turn the ball over. Whether it was pretty or not, at the end of the day, those things we did well enough and we needed to to get this win.â€
The Trailblazers were led offensively by Lebron Thomas, who scored 11 of his team-high 16 points in the first half, while also dishing out five assists on the night.
Sophomore Kris King (Washington, D.C.) picked up the scoring in the second half, scoring 12 of his 14 points in the final 20 minutes of play, including hitting three of three from behind the three-point arc.
Sophomore Karyiek Dixon (Enfield, London, UK) finished his night with 12 points, six rebounds and a team-high four blocks defensively.
Sophomore Ryan Oliver (Antioch, Tenn.) was the fourth Vincennes scorer in double-figures, ending with 10 points, four assists and three rebounds.
Freshman Mathieu Nader-Kalombo (Longueuil, Quebec) also helped get the VU scoring going in the first half, connecting on three of four from behind the arc for nine points on the night.
Sophomore Michael Osei-Bonsu (Bolingbrook, Ill.) battled foul trouble in the first half and came back with a strong second half to finish with eight points and nine rebounds.
“I thought we shot it,†Franklin said. “And the guys that shot it, shot it pretty well. It was on and off, up and down, good and bad. It’s hard to say that somebody sustained it all night. I didn’t think Kris had a great first half but in the second half he stepped up and played big. Karyiek had moments and some moments not so much. Michael was the same way. So I thought it was across the board like that.â€
“I thought Mathieu gave us some good minutes in the first half when we needed it,†Franklin added. “But I thought most guys, as far as shooting the ball, were pretty good. Ryan didn’t want to shoot the ball as much as he should have and then finally before the last time we sent him in, we were all over him to be ready and then one time it swings and he busted it. There’s no coincidence to that. We didn’t take bad shots. I didn’t think we forced anything. I thought as a group, collectively, we tried to break that zone down and offensively we were pretty good.â€
“Defensively, eh, but they played really well,†Franklin said. “At the end of the day you have to tip your hat to the other team sometimes and State Fair, I thought, was really good tonight. We may have helped them on some things, but I thought other than Gunnels, there were just individual breakdowns here and there. But they made us pay. Every time we relaxed a little, things that you might not have paid for other times, we paid for tonight.â€
“I thought we overall did what we had to do,†Franklin added. “Gutted it out. Kris King shot the ball in the second half and we made some big shots with different guys doing it. I thought Karyiek did some good things defensively late that were key. Michael got on the boards pretty good and cleared the glass when we had to. So it was a collective and I thought that Kris in the second half was probably the offensive spark that we needed to get over the top. He made the big shots when we had to make them right when the game is hanging in the balance and had a couple of big drives against the zone when it opened up. But this was a good gut-check win.â€
The Trailblazers will face another tough test tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 25 when VU faces No. 12 Moberly Area Community College in the final game of the MACC Thanksgiving Classic at 8 p.m. eastern.
This will be the third straight Saturday the Trailblazers have faced a team ranked in the top-25 after facing Monroe College and Indian Hills the past two Saturdays.
“I just hope we ratchet up the intensity on defense and we follow the game plan,†Franklin said. “I thought like, on Gunnels, that we broke the game plan tonight and it almost cost us the ball game. Those things are important and hopefully they have learned that now.â€
VINCENNES BOX SCORE
VINCENNES (78): Kris King 4-5 3-4 14, Kent King 1-6 2-2 5, Lebron Thomas 5-12 5-5 16, Michael Osei-Bonsu 4-7 0-0 8, Karyiek Dixon 4-10 4-7 12, Damarien Yates 2-2 0-0 4, Mathieu Nader-Kalombo 3-4 0-1 9, Alphonse Muteba 0-0 0-2 0, Ryan Oliver 4-6 1-2 10, Team 27-52 15-23 78.
State Fair – 36   33 – 69
VU (8-0) – 38   40 – 78
Three-point goals: VU 9 (Kr. King 3, Nader-Kalombo 3, Ke. King, L. Thomas, Oliver). Rebounds: VU 29 (Osei-Bonsu 9). Assists: VU 23 (Ke. King 6). Steals: VU 6 (Kr. King 2). Blocked shots: VU 7 (Dixon 4). Turnovers: VU 10. Personal Fouls: VU 14. Fouled out: None.