OLNEY, Ill. – Vincennes University freshmen Trenton Johnson (South Bend, Ind.) and Shilo Jackson (Indianapolis, Ind.) led the Trailblazers to their third Region 24 win of the year, beating Olney Central College 72-61 Wednesday night.
Johnson set a new career-high with 31 points in the game and Jackson recorded his ninth double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds on the night.
Vincennes got off to a slow start, falling behind early by six points before rallying back to even the score at 17-17 midway through the first half.
The Trailblazers used this momentum and rode a 21-5 scoring run to take an 11-point lead late in the first half.
VU would take a 10-point lead into the locker room, leading 42-32 at the break.
Olney Central started the second half strong, battling back to even the score at 45-45 with just under 13 minutes to play.
The Trailblazers would build a five-point lead before the Blue Knights would respond on their home floor to take the lead back.
The score remained even at 56-56 with five minutes to play before the Trailblazers used a 16-5 scoring run to expand their lead and take the 72-61 win over Olney Central.
"We got off to a bad start," VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. "We actually got off to a bad start in both halves. Somehow we have to get by that. We've won three Region 24 games in a row. Two road games and a quality win over Wabash Valley. Right before that we went blow for blow with John A. Logan from tip to horn."
"So obviously we are a lot better basketball team," Franklin added. "I said that after the Bosco game. Bosco is a good team and we didn't hit some shots and make some plays in the first game back from break but they would be an upper level Region 24 team with their talent."
"These last five games, we've got a good gauge on where we are at. We're right there. We just need to push past that to where we're not just right there but we're over the top completely. I think we can, but we'll see if we do."
Trenton Johnson led all scorers with 31 points for the game, surpassing his previous career-high of 22 points against Rend Lake, including hitting all six of VU's three-point makes. Johnson also finished with a team-high three steals.
Shilo Jackson finished with his ninth double-double of the season with 15 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Jackson also came away with four blocks on the night.
Freshman Devawn White (Montreal, Quebec) came off the bench to finish in double-figures with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Freshman Brevin Jefferson (Indianapolis, Ind.) finished his night with six points, five rebounds and a team-high five assists for the Trailblazers.
"Trenton Johnson emerging and giving us things that we thought we could get from him," Franklin said. "He doesn't have to get 31 every game, but he hit shots in plays that we know he can and it presented itself a number of times tonight. When they give us opportunities, we have to hurt them and we haven't had someone who could hurt them yet this season. We thought that we had guys that were capable but they hadn't evolved into doing it yet. Tonight, we have a guy doing that and unlike earlier in the year when we were struggling to score 50 points, tonight we score 72."
"I thought Devawn coming off the bench and giving us a big night and I thought he played well the entire time," Franklin added. "He looked right, he looked like his mind was into it. He was sharpe, he was guarding and defending. Even on the plays that didn't work out, he was still trying to be aggressive and making plays. He didn't get discouraged when he didn't get a couple of things to go and I think he can give us that the entire time. I liked his demeaner. It looked like he wanted a part in this game even before he went in."
"I thought Devawn and Trenton really stepped up tonight. Shilo provides us with strength. Right now, I think Shilo is a really good freshman. But we need him to get to being a really good sophomore for us to be good. That's what we're asking of these freshmen. We need to get these freshmen to be really good sophomore level players by the time we get to tournament time."
Vincennes will have a five-day break to prepare for their next game when VU hosts Region 24 opponent Kaskaskia at the P.E. Complex, Monday, Jan. 17. Tip-off for that game is set for 7 p.m. eastern.
"With a team this young, this inexperienced, all we try to do is get better," Franklin said. "One night one thing with break down, the next night it something else. But we are just going to try and get better. We will work on all the things that we need to work on. We will go back and watch the film, but even more than just this one singular game, it's just working on things in general."
"At this point in time, these individual players and I told them this in the locker room, I need them to think about the times in the game where they messed up," Franklin added. "Take the positives of we won and that's good and you want that, you want to feel good about that and you should feel good about that. We went on the road and won a game. We've come a long way from where we were at one point."
"But we didn't have a lot of things that went right tonight and there were controllable reasons for what didn't go right. At this point they know what I'm talking about. So they need to go back and say, 'I'm not going to let that happen again and I'm going to control that as much as possible.' Those are the areas, if we keep closing those holes up, when we're already right there where we can go toe-to-toe with anyone in the Region, then I think we've got a shot."
"Right now, we are basically in a two-month race to get to the tournament and be ready and win as many game along the way as we can to be seeded where we can. But we need to win the tournament in the end. So, we're taking this young team and racing against the clock every day. But they have opportunities now that they didn't have earlier. They have things to build on and have their own experiences. They've heard me say things, but now they've been out there and felt it and saw it both on the floor or when they are on the bench."
"We'll see if we can put it all together, but tonight we had people step up and Trenton has stepped up both games since we've been back. Devawn didn't get a lot of opportunities against Bosco but if he plays like he did tonight, then we will find a way to get him on the floor. We'll put the best players on the floor and if Devawn can come back and give us performances like tonight, then we will probably start working on some of those things between now and Monday. Devawn can give us somethings, we've known that the whole time, I've played with a lot of undersized post guys over the years and he can physically do things to give us about 16 to 20 quality minutes every night if his mind is right and that will make all the difference for us."
VINCENNES BOX SCORE
VINCENNES (72): Thow James Biel 1-4 0-0 2, Trenton Johnson 10-20 5-6 31, Brevin Jefferson 1-2 4-4 6, Darrius Davis 4-11 0-2 8, Shilo Jackson 4-7 7-9 15, Devawn White 4-7 2-3 10, Grant Brown 0-5 0-0 0, Deatrick Pashell 0-1 0-0 0, Team 24-57 18-24 72.
VU (6-12, 3-4) – 42 30 – 72
Olney Central – 32 29 – 61
Three-point goals: VU 6 (Johnson 6). Rebounds: VU 39 (Jackson 12). Assists: VU 12 (Jefferson 5). Steals: VU 8 (Johnson 3). Blocked shots: VU 6 (Jackson 4). Turnovers: VU 11. Personal Fouls: VU 16. Fouled out: James Biel.