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.