VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers fell for the second game in as many days as VU hosted No. 18 Northeast Mississippi Community College on the final day of the McDonald's Classic 73-59.
Northeast Mississippi got off to a fast start from the jump, opening the game on a 13-2 scoring run.
Vincennes would battle tough, but after an 8-0 run by the Tigers midway through the opening period put the Blazers down by 19, VU could only manage to play even for the rest of the first half.
The Trailblazers went into the locker room playing from behind for the fifth time in six games, trailing Northeast Mississippi 43-24 at the break.
Vincennes looked to mount a comeback in the second half but struggled to get started early. The Tigers built on their lead and held a 22-point advantage before VU went on a 7-0 scoring run.
The Blazers fought throughout the second half and ended the game on an 8-3 scoring run but ran out of time as Northeast Mississippi came away with the 73-59 victory.
"First of all, Northeast Mississippi is better than we are right now. They're better, more advanced, older, stronger, they've played together more," VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. "They played in their District Championship game last year, with guys that were playing tonight. So, they're back, their old and we're not there yet. We're in the process."
"We let them get away early and part of that is that we don't have a guy who says 'I'm going to go get a bucket right here and stop this'. So, when you're searching for who is going to score the ball like we are and you get a team in here like Northeast Mississippi, these things happen," Franklin added. "We're young, we don't value talking on transitions, we don't know to box out. We work on it in drills but until you get into the game the natural reaction for these guys is to just stand there and watch it and it's over."
"Those are young things and unfortunately we're playing all young and when you're playing against a team that's old and experienced, they will take advantage of those things and that becomes the difference in the game," Franklin said. "80-plus percent of this game we played right with Northeast. That would have been the case last night, but tonight it was competitive with a purpose. Our turnovers were down, our shot selection was better and I thought we got more solid minutes from people. We've got a million miles still to improve, but I thought it was a better effort tonight."
Vincennes was led offensively by freshman guard Brevin Jefferson (Indianapolis, Ind.) who finished with a game-high 16 points, while also grabbing five rebounds and dishing out three assists.
Freshman forward Thow James Biel (Calgary, Alberta) scored 14 points on the night and also managed to grab four rebounds, three of which coming on the offensive end of the floor.
Freshman Shilo Jackson (Indianapolis, Ind.) nearly completed another double-double in his young collegiate career, falling just one point short with nine points and 10 rebounds.
Freshman guard Grant Brown (Fairmount, Ind.) got his first collegiate start against the Tigers and had a solid all-around game of six points, five rebounds and a team-high four assists.
Sophomore Deatrick Pashell (Orlando, Fla.) came off the bench in the second half to end his night with eight points and a pair of rebounds.
"We're still trying to get guys to compete," Franklin said. "Shilo is still hesitant. He and Thow got a little more aggressive tonight and got more shots up but they were 10 for 33. It's not necessarily that any of those shots were bad but they're young. If they work harder, train harder, then 10 for 33 will turn into 16 for 33 at least and that changes the game completely."
"I think that tonight was not something that we like or want but I thought we were better," Franklin added. "I thought we looked more like a basketball team and we found some people. Grant Brown played 38 minutes and he only had one turnover, four assists and gave us five defensive rebounds. These are positives. He's still not generating a ton, but he hit a shot behind the three-point line, made one good drive in the lane for a layup and didn't force many plays. But if you're evaluating Grant Brown last week and evaluating him tonight, you would have two completely different evaluations on who or what he can be."
"We're not going to know what these freshmen are going to be for another couple of months. We might see glimpses of it here and there but the problem is with our schedule, who knows how many games we will lose during that time. But all I can do is take it day-by-day, keep working and practicing and getting these guys ready for the next opponent and hopefully the wins start to add up. But today, I thought we did get better as a team."
VU will hope to improve next time out when the Trailblazers play host to Danville Area Community College from Danville, Ill. Wednesday, Nov. 17. Tip-off time is scheduled for 7 p.m. eastern.
"We'll see what we can do by Wednesday, with guys getting in the gym and really work. I told them guys being solid, guys understanding what they're doing, guys playing hard, those are things that we can control, but they have to really get in here and work on their skills," Franklin said. "They've got to get better at shooting the basketball, they've got to get better at shooting free throws. We're struggling to score points and we don't make free throws. That's not a good idea. Danville and Parkland both this week are really good teams, Danville just went down and beat Wabash Valley. They're older and being older is a big deal."
VINCENNES BOX SCORE
VINCENNES (59): Thow James Biel 6-20 0-2 14, Shilo Jackson 4-13 1-1 9, Devawn White 1-4 0-1 2, Brevin Jefferson 6-11 1-3 16, Grant Brown 2-4 1-2 6, Trenton Johnson 1-1 0-0 3, Ketaan Wyatt 0-0 1-2 1, Marcus Clarke-Moore 0-1 0-0 0, Deatrick Pashell 4-5 0-0 8, Team 24-59 4-11 59.
Northeast Mississippi – 43 30 – 73
Vincennes (2-4) – 24 35 – 59
Three-point goals: VU 7 (Jefferson 3, James Biel 2, Brown, Johnson). Rebounds: VU 30 (Jackson 10). Assists: VU 13 (Brown 4). Steals: VU 2 (Jefferson, Brown). Blocked shots: VU 3 (Brown 2). Turnovers: VU 11. Personal Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None.
