MATTOON, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers ended their six game losing streak Wednesday night when the Blazers picked up a double overtime win at Lake Land College, 87-79.
Freshmen Darrius Davis (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Shilo Jackson (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Thow James Biel (Calgary, Alberta) each recorded double-doubles in the VU win.
Vincennes got off to a quick start against the Lakers, scoring eight of the first 10 points of the game before Lake Land responded with a 12-2 scoring run of their own to take a four point lead.
The Trailblazers played from behind for most of the first half, only able to grab a small 19-18 advantage before the Lakers finished out the first half to take a 30-25 lead heading into the break.
VU began the second half strong, battling to keep the game close and slowly erase the deficit.
Vincennes took the lead back from Lake Land just under the 10-minute mark, to take a 47-46 lead on the scoreboard.
The Trailblazers would build a six point lead before the Lakers answered back to even the score at 60-60 with under 25 seconds to play.
VU ran an inbounds play to get an open shot at the end of regulation but the shot fell off, forcing overtime.
Lake Land came out as the aggressor in the first overtime period, holding a four point lead at 68-64.
Vincennes responded with an 8-4 scoring run, capped off by a Thow James Biel three-point basket to even the score at 72-72, sending this game into a second overtime.
The Trailblazers rode this momentum into the second overtime and took complete control of the game early, building an 80-74 lead.
The Lakers tried to answer back but the Trailblazers closed out the game strong at the free throw line to get their first win in Region 24 play and snap their six game losing streak with an 87-79 win in double overtime.
"I thought we played better," VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. "We played spotty at times, but we're getting there. It was a good effort. I'm proud of our guys. We gutted it out. I thought we should have won it in regulation, I thought we let the game slide on us when we had control in the last minute. But we didn't and they had us down in overtime and we had to show some guts to get it in the second overtime."
"I thought we controlled the second overtime and I thought we earned this win tonight," Franklin added. "I thought we have practiced better. I think we're getting better. If you look at our last 90 minutes of basketball we've played Logan, who is the best team in the Region and third in the country and we went toe-to-toe with them and had every chance to win the game. Then we played Lake Land tonight, who is in the top-third of the Region. They are old and talented and have been winning and we won here on the road."
"These are two upper-third of the Region teams that we have played these last two games and I think we look like we belong. That shows you how far we've come in the last three weeks. Now that we've gotten to this point, it shows you what we can do and I think there is a whole lot left in the tank to dip into. We're going to see if we can put two good days of practice together and have a good game Saturday against Wabash. If we can do that and put three good performances together in these eight days against top teams going into the break and show where we are, we'll know where we're at when we come back and I think we've got a chance to do some good things the second half of the season."
Vincennes was led offensively by freshman Brevin Jefferson (Indianapolis, Ind.) who finished with 23 points on a perfect 11 of 11 shooting from the free throw line.
Jefferson fell just short of being the fourth VU starter to finish with a double-double, ending the game with a team-high nine assists on the night.
Darrius Davis finished off his first double-double of the season with 18 points and a team-high 15 rebounds, including five offensive rebounds and a team-high three blocks.
Thow James Biel ended his night with his first double-double of his collegiate career with 18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, including hitting four three-pointers while dishing out a pair of assists.
Shilo Jackson finished off his seventh double-double this season with a 15-point, 12-rebound performance for the Trailblazers.
Vincennes as a team hit 23 of 27 free throw attempts, nearly doubling the previous season high for free throws made of 13.
"I just think Brevin has to believe in his offense," Franklin said. "He's always been a passive, secondary but solid kind of guy but I think he has to be more than that with this team and I think he can be. I think if we get him where his confidence really goes over that edge where he's going to be aggressive, then I think that will really help our team."
"Shilo is a freshman, raw, thrown into a deal, has ability and can be a good player someday and we're just trying to make someday now," Franklin added. "Thow is the same way. Thow is in the exact same situation. They have been thrown into a situation where they really have to get a lot done but we're seeing them grow up."
"We just have to keep growing up. If we keep growing up, our record isn't going to be real pretty because of what we've gone through and who we've played but that has nothing to do when how good of a team we are. I think this week we've been an upper-third of the district team. So now we have to stay there and keep moving up. There is nothing fluky about it. We've learning some things. We've gotten a little bit better. We've worked a little bit harder. We could have gotten two wins out of this week or we could have been 0-2. But I think what we did show is that we belong. Hopefully our guys have learned that and they have learned the beauty of hard work. When you work, focus and you fight, a lot of things can happen for you."
"We've gotten better. But now we've got to want more. There was no fluke to these last two games and we didn't get it by luck. We finally worked hard enough to earn it. I'm proud of them. I'm happy for them and now it's time for us to take off and grind this thing out. We're not worrying about our record. We're worrying about getting right and playing well the rest of the year. I think we've got plenty of wins in us if we do and we're determined enough that come March we're going to be awful hard to beat in the tournament. I think you've seen for the first time in these last two games, maybe don't count these guys out just yet."
VU will close out the first half of their season Saturday Dec. 18 at the P.E. Complex when the Trailblazers host Wabash Valley. Tip-off time Saturday is set for 7 p.m. eastern.
"I'm going to be a broken record for the rest of the year, it's never going to be any different, we just have to go to work," Franklin said about getting ready for Wabash Valley. "We've got to work and get better each day. We started out the youngest team in the country and we've played probably the toughest schedule in the country. We've had very little things go right for us but we also really didn't do the work to earn those things and now we are. As the youngest team in the country, obviously there is a lot more that we can get out of this. The fact that right now we can go toe-to-toe with the top teams in the Region before the holidays with a couple more months of work to go, that's what it's going to be these next two days."
"We come from this and say, 'what did we learn from this', now let's go back, go to work. Hopefully this helps their confidence. I thought we were suffering from some confidence issues, which are understandable. But the season is still really young and we're really young. I think we're beginning to see that there is something pretty solid under our feet here for the first time. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel and all I want to see is us keep digging toward it. That is going to be what we're preaching every day and then compete on gameday and see where we get to. We're determined, I'm determined, that everybody trying to kick sand on us right now, it's fine, get your shots in now, because there is a lot of season left and we'll see where we are in March."
VINCENNES BOX SCORE
VINCENNES (87): Thow James Biel 6-21 2-2 18, Ketaan Wyatt 2-7 0-0 5, Brevin Jefferson 5-15 11-11 23, Darrius Davis 6-12 4-5 18, Shilo Jackson 5-10 5-7 15, Trenton Johnson 3-11 1-2 8, Devawn White 0-1 0-0 0, Grant Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Deatrick Pashell 0-3 0-0 0, Team 27-80 23-27 87.
Lake Land – 30 30 12 7 – 79
VU (4-11, 1-4) – 25 35 12 15 – 87
Three-point goals: VU 10 (James Biel 4, Jefferson 2, Davis 2, Wyatt, Johnson), Rebounds: VU 49 (Davis 15), Assists: VU 16 (Jefferson 9), Steals: VU 3 (James Biel, Davis, Johnson), Blocked shots: VU 4 (Davis 3), Turnovers: VU 19, Personal Fouls: VU 15, Fouled out: None.