VINCENNES, Ind. – The No. 8-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers headed into Saturday night's game with Wabash Valley College locked in a three-way tie for the top spot in the Region 24 standings with the Warriors and Olney Central College.
VU looked to answer the call and close out the week strong in this first place matchup Saturday night in the Physical Education Complex and were able to ride a 48-22 rebounding advantage to an 80-62 victory over Wabash Valley.
The Trailblazers came out of the gates strong and ended up nearly going wire-to-wire over the Warriors, using an early 11-2 scoring run to take a quick 11-4 lead before growing the lead to double digits at 19-8.
VU would later use a 12-0 scoring run to pick up their largest lead of the first half at 37-22 before the Warriors closed out the opening period on a 9-2 scoring run.
The Trailblazers headed into the locker room break still holding on to a 39-31 advantage over Wabash Valley.
Coming out of the locker room the Trailblazers again looked to set the tone early in the second half, scoring the first six points of the final 20 minute period to lead 45-31.
The two teams would trade baskets throughout most of the second half, with VU slowly increasing their lead, eventually gaining the largest lead of the night at 75-52.
Wabash Valley fought late but were unable to put together a big scoring run as the Blazers came away with the 80-62 victory over the Warriors.
"When we move the ball and our post players post and seal and we're running our actions right, we are hard to deal with," VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. "In a day in age when everyone says it's all about running around and firing threes, they have a hard time guarding us. And when we are sharp enough, they have a really hard time guarding us. We were presenting that early in the game and throughout the game and it was very difficult for them to handle."
"Then on the other end, we stopped the ball pretty well early and we handled some of their little screen actions," Franklin added. "So that set the tone. Then it was just about not getting stuck on a ball screen or giving up a straight line drive really the remainder of the game. Or giving up points because we turned the ball over or did something sloppy and they get buckets."
"I thought we were pretty much in control defensively most of the night," Franklin said. "I thought we did a pretty good job of making it tough on them for most of the night. Offensively, as long as we're sharp, we had 16 turnovers. We were 14 of 26 from the free throw line with missing multiple front ends of the bonus, so we were really about 14 for 30 or 32 when you talk about the points that you leave out there, that we earned. We were getting fouled because we were getting the ball down there where they have to foul us. So we're leaving some things out there."
"It was a pretty dominant performance overall," Franklin added. "But it could have been a lot more and we're still trying to tighten the screws on it. I thought we had two pretty good performances here this week against Lincoln Trail and Wabash. The first 10 minutes against Trail were obviously not great, but I think over our last 70 minutes we've pretty much been in control for those 70 minutes. Which is what we want to do and inside of that, I think there are areas that if we tighten them up a little bit, we could really be in control and that's our goal. Our goal is to get to the level to where we are kind of dominant and I think this team has that ability. So it's just how bad do they want to do it."
The Trailblazers were led offensively by a career night from sophomore Victor Lado (Louisville, Ky.) who set a new career high with 17 points and also finished with six rebounds.
Sophomore Kris King (Washington, D.C.) connected big from long range, ending with three makes from three point range on his way to 12 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Sophomore Karyiek Dixon (Enfield, London, UK) was the third VU scorer in double figures, ending with 10 points and six rebounds.
Sophomore Michael Osei-Bonsu (Bolingbrook, Ill.) nearly completed another double-double off the bench, finishing his night with nine points and nine rebounds, eight of which coming on the offensive glass.
Freshman Lebron Thomas (Bishopville, S.C.) controlled the offense from the point guard position, ending with nine points and a team-high eight assists to go along with five rebounds.
Freshman Damarien Yates (Somerville, Tenn.) also continues to impress off the bench, finishing his night with seven points and seven rebounds for VU.
"We're doing good things," Franklin said. "And we've totally dominated the glass these two games this week after having a disappointing and inexcusable for our team performance on the glass at Olney. There are a lot of things that set that up but when we dominate the glass, we are going to be really hard to beat and we should dominate the glass on most nights."
"I thought our turnovers Wednesday were excellent," Franklin added "Tonight, we got a little sloppy. We're not forcing a turnover. We're not in situations where we are in duress. It's just about keeping our focus. So we're more than capable of playing a clean game. We have not run into much that has caused us a ton of problems. This team has really not struggled with any kind of defensive tactic. Hopefully it continues that way, but so far, they haven't. Our struggles have been whether or not we are focused in and our intensity is right."
"That's a good thing for our team and I think that we should be a very confident basketball team in what we can do," Franklin said. "Now we just have to go and do it. We've been a good basketball team. The question is, are we going to end up being a great basketball team. I think we moved closer to that this week. We'll see if we can continue that. I think we improved this week. I think our thought process was better this week. I think we are getting closer to that edge that I think we have to have. We're still not there, but we got closer. If we can continue that over the next month and a half, everything is on the table. But we have to for everything to be on the table. But as I said when the week started, I'm not going to be pulling it out of them. I'm holding to that. They know what it is. It's about the team and the leadership to take it on and I thought they did a better job of that this week and we'll see if we can keep growing."
The Trailblazers will look to continue this level of play next week when the Blazers hit the road to take on Kaskaskia College Wednesday, Jan. 31 in Centralia, Ill. Tip-off time for this game is set for 7 p.m. eastern.
"We need to play our game there," Franklin said. "There is no reason to go on the road and not play well. If anything you are more focused. You are more locked in because you know that they have a chance for them to play better. But our level certainly should not dip. We need to be moving up and that's historically what my teams have done, particularly as you move into February. There's no question that we've been hard to beat when we come into your house in February and there's no reason for this team not to be. We're designed to be able to be good on the road. The way that we play, it should travel."
"It's not like we're playing like we're just hot and only doing it at home, then you go on the road and the wheels fall off, that's not our style," Franklin added. "Our style has always translated on the road. I didn't think we had a great road game at SWIC. But we won. I did not think we had a great game at Olney and had every chance to win against the other team that at the top and did not. So I'd like to see our team take that personally and take our game and be better than we were tonight on the road Wednesday night. If we are, then I like our chances and I think we are in control of that. So I want us to act like we are in control."
VINCENNES BOX SCORE
VINCENNES (80): Kris King 4-11 1-2 12, Karyiek Dixon 5-7 0-2 10, Victor Lado 7-10 3-5 17, Ryan Oliver 3-5 0-1 6, Lebron Thomas 3-9 3-3 9, Damarien Yates 2-7 3-4 7, Gerard Thomas 1-1 0-0 3, Kent King 2-3 3-4 7, Michael Osei-Bonsu 4-7 1-5 9, Team 31-60 14-26 80.
Wabash Valley – 31 31 – 62
VU (19-2, 6-1) – 39 41 – 80
Three-point goals: VU 4 (Kr. King 3, G. Thomas). Rebounds: VU 48 (Osei-Bonsu 9). Assists: VU 24 (L. Thomas 8). Steals: VU 7 (Oliver 2, L. Thomas 2). Blocked Shots: VU 3 (Dixon, L. Thomas, Ke. King). Turnovers: VU 16. Personal Fouls: VU 20. Fouled out: Osei-Bonsu.
