MATTOON, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers took on the Triton Trojans Tuesday afternoon in the opening game of the 2021 Mattoon Classic at Lake Land College.
VU jumped out to an early lead but were unable to hold on as the Trailblazers fell 69-53 to Triton.
Vincennes freshman Shilo Jackson (Indianapolis, Ind.) anchored the Blazers offense in the paint on his way to his fourth double-double of the season, ending with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
VU brought the energy to start the game, using a 12-0 scoring run to take an 18-7 lead early in the first half.
Triton would respond like a team on the edge of the Top-25 rankings should, launching an 11-0 scoring run of their own to even the score.
The Trojans would take the lead late in the first half as the Trailblazers battled to regain the lead but couldn't before the halftime break, heading into the locker room down 30-28.
Triton's outside shooting began to connect in the second half as the Trojans expanded their lead to 24 points midway through the final period.
The Trailblazers would rally, going on a 14-2 scoring run with under 10 minutes to play but unfortunately could not complete the comeback as Vincennes fell 69-53.
"I thought before Triton pressured us we were the better team," VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. "Once they pressured us, then our holes showed up. We're going to be flawed and young but because we couldn't handle the pressure better, it trumped everything else."
"Triton's a good team, Top-30 in the country, old team and we're playing without Brevin Jefferson (Indianapolis, Ind.) which certainly didn't help," Franklin added. "I've got to do a better job of finding some way to make that work. But I really think there are a lot of things that we still need to work on."
"As it was, we gave up 69 points, with some of those being easy giveaway buckets. We would have held them in the mid-50's if we had just handled the ball. We would have scored at least in the mid-60's if we had handled the ball. If we would have had Brevin and he would have played strong, then I think we would have had every chance to win this ballgame. We just haven't found anybody else to do that under pressure."
Along with Jackson, Vincennes freshman Thow James Biel (Calgary, Alberta) were the only two Trailblazers to reach double-figures in the points column, with James Biel ending with 10 points and three rebounds.
"We had them on their heels and I think it would have stayed that way if they were not able to pressure us like they did," Franklin said. "I thought Shilo Jackson was the best big-man on the floor. I thought Thow played fine. I thought those two guys played fine. I thought Darrius Davis (Pittsburgh, Pa.) played hard but as it went along he got less and less productive, missing layups and free throws. But he's playing hard and he got layups and free throws, you just have to convert them."
"We're young across the board, so when it starts to go bad we don't have the strength of character to deal with it," Franklin added. "I thought Thow really stayed in the game throughout, even when it was bad and I thought Shilo did as well. I just think the story of the day is that we just didn't handle the pressure but we should have and we have to find someone who will. Someone who is stronger as the initiator and everyone else has to get sharper than where they are at. If we did that tonight, the holes were there and the plays the veteran teams take advantage of were there, then I think we would have beaten a pretty good team today."
Vincennes will look to head into the Thanksgiving break on a high note tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov. 24 when VU closes out the Mattoon Classic by taking on No. 11-ranked Indian Hills Community College from Ottumwa, Iowa. Tip-off time is set for 2 p.m. eastern.
"I hope to just see a progression of continuing to get better, stronger and tougher," Franklin said. "Obviously, we want better ball-handling. Being sharper and crisper when it comes to that, that's the whole deal with us being competitive with teams that we can and should have beat. Shilo was good today, not perfect, but good. Thow I thought was good today. I thought we got some hard efforts from some people early, until the pressure came."
"I'm sure Indian Hills is going to pressure us tomorrow, I don't know why they wouldn't and I'd like to see someone who is getting the chance to take the job right now while Brevin is out step up and act like they can do the job," Franklin added. "We've got too many people acting like they can't do the job, so I would like to see somebody step up and be strong, commanding and assertive with the ball. The biggest thing for us is to be assertive and quit looking for excuses to fail. Be assertive and look for the positive things that are out there so you can be successful. We're seeing some of that, but we just have the fatal flaw of not being able to handle the pressure. We just need to get guys that will do what we're saying and if you fail at least fail doing what we're telling you to do aggressively. Because if that had happened today, I think we would have had every chance to win the game."
VINCENNES BOX SCORE
VINCENNES (53): Thow James Biel 4-10 2-4 10, Trenton Johnson 1-4 0-0 2, Marcus Clarke-Moore 0-4 1-2 1, Darrius Davis 2-6 1-3 5, Shilo Jackson 9-12 2-4 20, Ketaan Wyatt 1-4 0-0 2, Devawn White 0-5 2-2 2, Grant Brown 0-0 5-5 5, Deatrick Pashell 3-7 0-0 6, Team 20-52 13-20 53.
Triton – 30 39 – 69
VU (3-6) – 28 25 – 53
Three-point goals: VU 0. Rebounds: VU 32 (Jackson 13). Assists: VU 12 (Wyatt 4). Steals: VU 8 (Davis 2, Wyatt 2, White 2). Blocked shots: VU 2 (Jackson, Pashell). Turnovers: VU 24. Personal Fouls: VU 14. Fouled out: None.