VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers hosted No. 5-ranked John A. Logan Saturday night at the P.E. Complex and the young Trailblazers held their own with the highly-ranked Volunteers, leading by nine at halftime.
Vincennes got off to a slow start early, as the Volunteers jumped out to an early eight point lead at 12-4.
Vincennes responded on their home floor with a 15-7 run to even the game at 19-all midway through the first half and took a 20-19 lead with just under eight minutes to go in the opening period.
The Trailblazers grew their lead as part of an 8-1 scoring run to take a seven points lead over John A. Logan.
Vincennes would grow their lead again late in the first half to head into the locker room with a strong 38-29 lead over the Volunteers.
John A. Logan closed the gap in the second half, cutting the deficit to a single point before the two teams traded baskets.
Vincennes held a 56-51 lead midway through the second half before the Volunteers went on a 9-2 scoring run to take the lead.
The Trailblazers fell behind 67-65 to the No. 5-ranked Volunteers before John A. Logan was able to close out the game on a 10-2 scoring run, as Vincennes fell 77-67.
"I thought we showed a little bit more fire at times. I thought we had a little bit more fire and determination in the first half and we had more success," VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. "In the second half I thought we had a little less. That's the difference. I thought when the moment came when we really had to fight and everybody had to lock-in and do their job we flinched a little and that's all it took."
"Logan is supposed to be the runaway best team in the District and I don't think there is any question that we can compete with them," Franklin added. "But to beat them, which I think was very much in our hands tonight, we're going to have to get tougher and train harder every day. We're going to have to get to where there are no excuses and I apologize for that because I have sat around here and have been too nice."
"We've had some guys that were not receptive to how hard and intense you have to go about your work early this year. But the last 24 years we've been pretty successful and we've been built on toughness, accountability, being competitive and having no excuses because where this basketball family started was back in a corn field, with a rubber floor, with a bunch of guys that nobody wanted. Where we had nothing and we weren't supposed to make it and had no reason to make it but we were always determined to make it."
"We've been built on good guys who have had that kind of attitude and that kind of thought process. I'm smart enough to know what we need to do and tough enough to demand it and we had tough enough guys who said, 'I'm going to be successful'. That's been the foundation of my program this entire time, which we merged into Vincennes from Southeastern Illinois. We were not that for the first several months here. We weren't that in practice. We weren't that in the way we came in the gym. We weren't that in what I was demanding and I wasn't nearly as demanding as I needed to be."
"Now we're getting a little more receptive but now we need to get a lot more receptive. What the guys should have already known is Coach Franklin knows what he is talking about. Tonight, those who were more receptive could see things were much better and we didn't have enough because we haven't trained it enough and we haven't been as hard-edged with it every day to where we could sustain that for 40 minutes. If we could have sustained it for 40 minutes tonight, we would have won the game but we just couldn't do that and we're going to get to where we can. I know how to do that and these guys are going to have to be receptive to that."
"I know we're young, but I've played freshmen plenty of times before and I've won with freshmen. These freshmen are going to get over the hump and I think you will see if you look at the other teams in the District that if we get over the hump that we should be able to win a vast majority of our games. I believe that and I believe that if we don't, I don't believe that that will be successful and I don't think that is okay. I think if our team works hard enough, has the right attitude and is determined enough we can start winning the majority of our games from here on out. I thought we were better tonight and I think because we were better you can see the difference. I don't know how you can be more positive in that message because that message tells you that my success is in my hands and in my control. I just have to be tough enough, hard-edged enough and focused enough that Coach Franklin knows what he is talking about and I can be good and I can be successful."
"If that's not a positive enough message, then I don't know what to tell anybody. Because it was positive enough for all those guys you see on these banners in here and at Southeastern Illinois, so that's the positive message I'm going to give. But that message has to be followed and has to be followed with some real determination. We'll be back at it tomorrow because we're not taking any days off and there are no more moral victories. I'm going back to being Coach Franklin and hopefully we get back to being who we're supposed to be."
Vincennes was led offensively by freshman Thow James Biel (Calgary, Alberta) who finished with a game-high 26 points on just 10 shots. James Biel also added four rebounds to his line.
Freshman Darrius Davis (Pittsburgh, Pa.) came off the bench to nearly finish with a double-double, ending with 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
Freshman Brevin Jefferson (Indianapolis, Ind.) had an impressive all-around game with 11 points, eight rebounds and a team-high six assists.
Freshman Ketaan Wyatt (Toledo, Ohio) reentered the starting lineup for the first time since Nov. 20 to finish with 10 points and a team-high three steals.
"I think Thow is an example of what we're saying because I've challenged him for the last couple of days that he's playing 36 or 37 minutes a game and he's shooting four for 13 and he's never really taken off and dominated a play," Franklin said. "And I think he can do that. But he has to set standards in a different way and work at it a different way. He needs to be in the gym and work more and he has to get his skills better and he's got to be able to make his free throws but he did come out tonight with more of an aggressive attitude. He got on the offensive glass a little bit harder and made some plays there that we also challenged him on."
"So, he knows, after tonight, that one thing is for sure, which he should have known before he walked in here, that Coach is right and it was more fun to play that way if you are Thow and you were more successful and you did feel better when you were out there," Franklin added. "Thow James Biel tonight is a perfect example of what I'm talking about with what we've done over the years. It's maximizing who and what you are by going out there and being that kind of competitive, that kind of locked-in and doing it everyday in practice so you can give that best performance you can on game night. Thow did that tonight and he looked like he enjoyed it more, it looked like he was more competitive and he was more successful. We have to get every player, not every player is going to get 26 points a night, but every player can do their job that same way with that same kind of energy, enthusiasm, determination and competitiveness. That is what we've always been about."
The Trailblazers will hit the road next week when they travel to Mattoon, Ill. to take on Lake Land College Wednesday, Dec. 15. Tip-off time will be 8:30 p.m. eastern.
Vincennes will close out the first half of the season at the P.E. Complex, Saturday, Dec. 18 when VU hosts Wabash Valley College. Tip-off time will be at 7 p.m. eastern for that game.
"We are going to spend every second from now until the final horn sounds at the end of the year, I can promise you as a coach I am going to spend every second that I have trying to make sure that we get back to the no excuses and total competitive type of mindset," Franklin said. "If I fail, I know that I can tell every fan we have, everybody that is a part of our basketball family that might read this, I promise Coach Franklin is going to do everything he can to reestablish how our basketball family is supposed to go about our business."
"That is the only thought or opinion that has mattered," Franklin added. "That has been the one thought or opinion that has made a difference and that is what we went to work on and we are going to get back to that for anybody that is going to be in these jerseys and everybody better like it because that's just where I am. If I'm going to do this job, that's how I'm going to do it. That's how I've always done it and we lost our way on that a little bit. I didn't want to, but we did. The whole goal from here on out is simple, getting back to that. If we do then we will have things like Thow tonight where he stepped up and played better. If he gets in here and works everyday like that with that kind of mindset then he will be a lot better player in a month. He might not get 26 points a night, but he will be a lot better player and he will be a lot happier because that's what has always happened to our guys."
VINCENNES BOX SCORE
VINCENNES (67): Thow James Biel 8-10 8-12 26, Deatrick Pashell 0-3 0-0 0, Ketaan Wyatt 4-8 2-4 10, Devawn White 1-3 0-0 2, Brevin Jefferson 4-11 1-2 11, Trenton Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Darrius Davis 5-9 0-1 12, Shilo Jackson 3-10 0-0 6, Team 25-54 11-19 67.
John A. Logan – 29 48 – 77
VU (3-11, 0-4) – 38 29 – 67
Three-point goals: VU 6 (James Biel 2, Jefferson 2, Davis 2). Rebounds: VU 31 (Davis 9, Jackson 9). Assists: VU 11 (Jefferson 6). Steals: VU 5 (Wyatt 3). Blocked Shots: VU 2 (Jackson 2). Turnovers: VU 16. Personal Fouls: VU 16. Fouled out: None. Technical Fouls: James Biel (1st – 3:10).
