Swansey and a pair of double-doubles lead No. 7 Trailblazers to road win over Olney Central

OLNEY, Ill. – The Vincennes University men's basketball team held their position this week in the NJCAA Division I National rankings, checking in again at No. 7 in this week's polls, while moving up to No. 3 in the JUCO Advocate Media Poll and holding at No. 3 in the Nielsen File Top-25 rankings for this week.

The Blazers hit the road Wednesday night for the final time this regular season and faced the short-handed Olney Central College Blue Knights.

Olney Central came into Wednesday night's contest with only six active players and the depth of the No. 7 Trailblazers took over as Vincennes cruised late to a big 85-63 victory over Olney Central.

It was a slow start for the Trailblazers Wednesday night as VU was playing without sophomore and 2024 All-American Lebron Thomas who was out due to injury.

The first half was back and forth with Olney Central seemingly grabbing the early momentum with a 20-15 lead before VU responded with 14 straight points to take a 29-20 lead.

This 14-0 run was part of a larger 21-2 scoring run as Vincennes would go on to outscore the Blue Knights 27-6 to close out the first half and take a commanding 42-26 lead into the locker room at the break.

Olney Central looked to regain the momentum early in the first half and get the home crowd back into the game, opening the second half with five straight points, which was immediately answered by VU with six points.

VU would get their lead up to 22 after a small 8-0 scoring run and would continue to hold the advantage above 20 points for the remainder of the game.

Olney Central attempted one last comeback with five straight points but were unable to cut the lead back down below 20 as the Trailblazers cruised down the stretch to pick up their 18th straight victory by the final score of 85-63.

"We had a few guys tonight in moments that would step up and got things going," VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. "I thought Kenaz was good in the second half. I really was unhappy with him in the first half. He was floating around in the short corner when he needed to be pinning in the post and we challenged him pretty good at halftime. I challenged a lot of people tonight. At some point, you've got to have some real fight."

"This is dog-eat-dog out here," Franklin added. "This is the strong survive and the weak are going home. There are not that many opportunities at the next level or to be a National Champion and to make it at this level. It's going to be a fight. You've got to go out there and prove it. We've got to get a little tougher, a little nastier. In the second half Kenaz got a little more committed and a little bit tougher and you see the difference."

"But I can tell you that our place is fair," Franklin said. "If you want to see that on display, we gave guys opportunities and we kept going around until we found somebody that would do it. When they did it, you saw Kenaz stayed out there on the floor the whole second half. Meyoh's minutes went way up. Taveon Smith's minutes got better as it went along tonight. It's just how it goes here. We had a opportunity knock for these point guards tonight and hopefully they are more comfortable out there on Saturday if they need to be playing the whole game again. I have no idea if Lebron will play or not."

VU was led offensively by a big night off the bench by freshman Meyoh Swansey (Olympia Fields, Ill.) who was an efficient six for eight shooting from the floor, including hitting four threes and doubling his previous season high with a total of 16 points on the night.

Sophomore Bryan Akanmu (Paris, France) secured his third double-double of the season with 14 points and a team-high 13 rebounds, while also dishing out five assists, while fellow sophomore Michael Cooper (Minneapolis, Minn.) finished off his fifth double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.

Freshman Kenaz Ochogwu (E. Providence, R.I.) had a big second half to close out his night with 14 points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocks, while freshman Dayton Williams (Louisville, Ky.) finished with nine points and eight rebounds.

"I thought Dayton Williams was a little bit better tonight," Franklin said. "He didn't score a ton of points but he was more active. I thought defensively, early in the game, he was good because he took Bethea out early, which was key."

"We had an opportunity to get a big lead in the first five to 10 minutes of the game because we were getting plenty of stops," Franklin added. "But we just wouldn't finish and finalize. Some of that just comes down to being tough, nasty and locking in and these guys are not going to make it at the next level if they don't get it now. They've got to get it or we're just pretending. So I'm trying and I'm trying really hard to push these guys, whether they like it or don't, because if I don't, it's just pretend. If we do get them an opportunity at the next level, they are not going to make it because it is dog-eat-dog every day. Especially now that money is involved. So hopefully we are getting that across to them because I am not going to be a part of the problem."

"I think we want to, we're seeking it," Franklin said. "I think when you keep hammering at it, you are going to have moments like Kenaz tonight who said okay. Now we'll see if he carries that over. If he does, he can have a successful career. Kenaz can go on and get school paid for the whole time. He can become a player, get a degree, have a good job and life can be good. But he is going to have to fight for it and we are going to try to set it up for him where we tell him the truth and put him in positions to do it."

"We had some that did it tonight and we didn't have quite enough and we'll go back and we'll keep hammering at it the next couple of days and hopefully on Saturday, whoever we have available will fight like heck for their opportunity because it is dog-eat-dog," Franklin added.

The Trailblazers will return home to the Physical Education Complex as they get set to close out the final two games of the 2024-25 regular season, beginning Saturday, March 1 when VU hosts Wabash Valley College at 7 p.m. eastern.

This game will be Good Samaritan Night at the P.E. Complex, sponsored by Good Samaritan Hospital in Vincennes and is also VU's annual Blaze to a Community Cure Cancer Awareness Night as well.

Funds raised through ticket sales, donations and special merchandise sales leading up to, as well as the day of the event, will be directed toward assisting families in the Vincennes community who are facing cancer-related difficulties. A portion of the funds will also go toward cancer research, treatment and local support services.

The Blazers will then return to the home floor Tuesday, March 4 for the regular season finale on Sophomore Night inside the P.E. Complex when VU hosts Kaskaskia College at 7 p.m. eastern.

"I'm pushing right now because I know that we are running out of time, we've got an opportunity," Franklin said. "Some of these guys may never have this opportunity again. It's now, it's not going to be in three months, it's now. They have a really good opportunity to do some good things for themselves and their teammates but they have to get over that edge and that's what I thought tonight was."

"We had some that did, Taveon, Kenaz, Meyoh, were all guys that made steps forward in my mind," Franklin added. "I thought Dayton made a little step forward and looked a little more comfortable. So hopefully what that means is sometimes you get that one game and in the next game you'll really see him take off. But that's what it is and that's what I'll take away from this game."

"Hopefully we get a big crowd on Saturday," Franklin said. "We need it. We need some energy, we need whatever helps us to do it. Everything is still on the line for us. We're now 14-0 in the league. We're looking to be 16-0, that's hard. We're pushing our guys to do this and our guys are in a lot better position right now than everybody else."

"There's a reason," Franklin added. "Our standards are certain standards and those standards that we keep grinding for, it's amazing what happens. We're in a position where we have a chance to do this. These young men have this position where they have a chance to make a big run right now where they could really do some great things. Look at that wall inside the P.E. Complex and look at those National Champions and let me read off to you where they all went. They all graduated, they all went through all four years and graduated. They all went Division I or Division II. We've got one in the NBA right now that's going to go on and make a fortune. You can watch him out there right now, he's not bothered by any of it because he knows how to do it. We had all kinds of those guys. Success and fighting to learn what you have to do to be successful, that's what it breeds."

"That's what we are pushing for and we're not going to leave here tonight very satisfied across the board with it," Franklin said. "We're going to go back and push again these next couple of days and it would be really great to get the crowd out there, big crowd, be excited and help us have the energy to really do something special. We have a chance to win Saturday and Tuesday and finish this regular season 16-0. There are very, very few teams who can go undefeated in this league and it probably puts you out at Hutch even before the tournament has started. I need everybody to get out and help us push over that hill."

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (85): Christian Andrews 2-12 0-0 5, Bryan Akanmu 4-8 6-10 14, Travelle Bryson 3-8 0-0 8, Dayton Williams 3-9 2-2 9, Hussein Elmaraghy 0-2 0-0 0, Meyoh Swansey 6-8 0-0 16, Jalen Calloway 1-3 0-0 3, Taveon Smith 2-8 1-2 6, Michael Cooper 3-8 4-4 10, Ali Sakho 0-1 0-0 0, Kenaz Ochogwu 6-7 2-2 14, Team 30-74 15-20 85.

VU (24-3 14-0) – 42   43 – 85

Olney Central – 26   37 – 63

Three-point goals: VU 10 (Swansey 4, Bryson 2, Andrews, Williams, Calloway, Smith). Rebounds: VU 57 (Akanmu 13). Assists: VU 23 (Calloway 6). Steals: VU 0. Blocked Shots: VU 7 (Williams 2, Ochogwu 2). Turnovers: VU 10. Personal Fouls: VU 21. Fouled out: None.