Trailblazers fall in District Quarterfinals to long scoring run

INA, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers fell in the Central District Quarterfinals 65-55 to the Shawnee Saints Monday night.

The Saints closed out the game on a 24-0 scoring run in the final eight minutes of play to come away with the opening round win.

VU fell behind early to Shawnee, quickly trailing by five points before the Blazers used a 9-3 scoring run to take the lead near the midway point of the first half.

Vincennes controlled the final 10 minutes of the first half, as VU built a 14-point halftime lead. The Blazers headed into the locker room leading 35-21 over Shawnee.

VU freshman Shilo Jackson (Indianapolis, Ind.) had a huge first half for the Blazers. The offense ran through the 6-foot-9 center early and often as Jackson went into the halftime break with 19 points and seven rebounds.

The Saints defense understandably focused their attention on Jackson in the second half, which allowed freshman Trenton Johnson (South Bend, Ind.) to get open on the perimeter to hit a pair of three’s early in the final period.

Vincennes held onto their 14-point lead at 55-41 with just over eight minutes to play when the momentum of the game completely shifted.

Shawnee was able to final open space from deep to hit a couple of three’s and drew even with Vincennes at 55-all with 4:35 to play.

The Saints continued to ride this momentum, forcing turnovers and getting open shots as Shawnee rode a 24-0 scoring run to a 65-55 win over the Trailblazers.

“As far as doing what we needed to do and putting guys in position, trying to get them prepare, obviously I have failed to get them to be tough enough because at the end of the day, that was the story tonight,” VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. “From a basketball perspective, we would have won. I thought we were the better team. I thought we had control and then Shawnee just out-toughed us. They were using the same press they had all game. It was the same strategy to their press, they just upped it and started smacking and holding more.”

“At the end of the day, we didn’t show enough toughness,” Franklin added. “We didn’t catch the ball and ‘chin’ it. We didn’t fight for balls. We were leaving Brevin out there on his own and he didn’t really handle it well. Whether he tired or whatever, you have to be able to fight through that. We just had guys that didn’t want it. They were doubling Brevin in the middle of the floor, so there were people open and our guys on the second line didn’t want the ball.”

“A 24-0 run ends the game. Against a team that you were playing better than all night, we just have to have someone deliver and not loose the ball. We wouldn’t do things that we have preached everyday and things that we have never had a problem with but that’s where it is.”

“It’s on me. It’s my job to make sure that we have it. We had a number of things happen this year. We had some guys leave that didn’t really want to be a part of it. We had guys get hurt. All the things that we went through that left us thin, but our thin still obviously, should have won tonight if we had been able to instill the toughness, discipline and the sharpness but we just haven’t been able to. We’ve tried. I’ve tried and I have failed. I failed to get the right type of guy in here to get it out of him but at the end of the day that’s what it came down to. We had one more test to pass tonight and that was the toughness test. If we had passed that we would have won going away. But we not only didn’t pass it, we obviously flunked it.”

VU was led offensively by Jackson, who ended the game with 23 points and nine rebounds. Jackson also came through with a pair of blocks on the defensive end of the floor.

Trenton Johnson connected on three three-point shots on his way to 13 points off the bench.

VU freshman Brevin Jefferson (Indianapolis, Ind.) was the third VU scorer in double figures, ending with 10 points and dishing out a team-high eight assists.