No. 10 Trailblazers stumble late and drop road matchup at Wabash Valley

MT. CARMEL, Ill. – The No. 10-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers basketball team suffered a setback Saturday afternoon falling at Wabash Valley College 82-77.

The Trailblazers got off to a slow start Saturday afternoon with Wabash Valley riding the wave of the 'Sophomore Night' crowd to an early 12-4 lead.

VU was able to bounce back and take their first lead of the game at 20-18 midway through the first half of play.

Wabash Valley would again grab the momentum back with a 10-0 scoring run and close out the first half holding a 36-28 lead over Vincennes.

Vincennes looked to have put the first half behind them early in the second, taking the lead back after outscoring the Warriors 19-6 in the first five minutes of the second half and take a 47-42 lead.

VU would grab their largest lead of the game at six points before Wabash Valley slowly chipped away at this Trailblazers lead to tie the game at 59-59 with under seven minutes to play.

Wabash Valley used a 19-4 scoring run to take a 73-63 lead late as VU looked to battle back late but would unfortunately run out of time as the Warriors closed out the game at the free throw line and came away with an 82-77 win over Vincennes.

"I did not do a good enough job," VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said.

Vincennes was led offensively by sophomore Caleb Johnson (N. Preston, Nova Scotia) who continued his streak of scoring in double figures with 19 points, five rebounds and a pair of assists.

Freshman Kris King (Washington, D.C.) played some big minutes for the Trailblazers in the second half to set a new career-high with 19 points and a team-high four assists.

Sophomore Tasos Cook (Columbus, Ohio) began to attack the basket more in the second half, scoring nine of his 11 points in the final 20 minutes of play. Cook would also end with four rebounds and three assists.

Freshman Michael Osei-Bonsu (Bolingbrook, Ill.) just missed a double-double with 11 points and eight rebounds and sophomore Shilo Jackson (Indianapolis, Ind.) ended with five late points and seven rebounds.

"When we had guys that were really focused in, they could have success," Franklin said. "We could get the ball on the block kind of whenever we wanted to. They weren't going to block a shot and we could go up and score. So, when people did that, we were successful."

"When the floor was open and you wanted to drive it hard to the basket, you could get down deep," Franklin added. "When the guys that scored the points today did that, we knew that and we tried to set things up that would make that happen, we were successful."

"I did not do a good enough job of making us to that all night," Franklin said. "Because it was there all night. It was there from tip to horn. Wabash is a good team. They are playing well. They are talented, they hit big shots. If we play the way that we are supposed to in the first half and we play the way we were supposed to when we got the lead in the second half, it doesn't come down to that. But it did come down to that and when it did, my team wasn't prepared enough to be hard-edged and disciplined enough to get it done and that's on me."

"I've just got to do a better job of getting us to where we can focus in those moments and be hard-edged enough," Franklin added. "That's my job as a coach to recruit guys in here that will do that and then for me to train them up and put them into a position to do it. That's what it came down to and it came down to that on defense as well."

"We just did not lockdown and stop the ball," Franklin said. "Their big guy had 19 points. They threw it to him all the time and we knew we were going to run bodies at him and at the end of the game he is going to be tired and he was. He missed several free throws because he got tired. But we were able to get stops on him. The idea was that we were not going to double him, because he's a really good passer out of that, they cut really hard and they get on the offensive glass and it causes all kinds of problems. We knew we were going to play that way, but we shouldn't be giving up anything else."

"There should be any kick outs for three, there shouldn't be any offensive rebounds," Franklin added. "If you me before the game that they were going to throw it to him and let him battle all the time and he's going to have 19 points, I would have said we'll be fine. We should have any problem in the game of getting enough stops and holding them down."

"There was no excuse for us standing up defensively," Franklin said. "I've got to do a better job. I thought we worked on it, I thought we've been there. But today, when it was asked, we didn't do a good enough job and again, that's on me. If I can't get us to know that Boyd is going to go left and for us to be disciplined enough to sit down and take that away, then that's on me. Because I knew it and it wasn't anything different. It's my job to get our guys ready and today we didn't act like we were ready."

The Trailblazers will look to bounce back and get back on track before the NJCAA Midwest District/Region 24 tournament when VU returns home to the P.E. Complex Tuesday, Feb. 28 to host Olney Central College at 7 p.m. eastern.

Vincennes defeated the Blue Knights 73-67 earlier this season in Olney behind 17 points by Tasos Cook and 16 points by Caleb Johnson.

"What I want to take into Tuesday is guys have to stand up," Franklin said. "If you want these things that we are going after, then you have to go out and take them and we have to have guys that, in the moment, are tough enough to go and take it. You don't just get handed an opportunity to go to Hutch. They don't just give it to you, you've got to go and earn it. So on Tuesday night, we've got to go and win a ballgame at least and then more."

"But I think we would have earned the right, given what we've done this year, if we go out and win this game Tuesday night," Franklin added. "But we still have to go and win this game on Tuesday. There's no hiding from it and I want to find some people who aren't going to hide from it. I want people who are going to come out and take it on. We talked about that coming into this game and you saw the start to the first half. We're not taking anything on. The opportunities are there and it's the same as it has always been this year."

"I need players to step up," Franklin said. "We knew what they were going to do today. Offensively we knew how to get the ball where it needed to be and score. We knew how to get a guy wide open in the corner if they try to double to post. We knew it. We're not going to come up with some secret formula. We didn't need a secret formula tonight."

"I want to find five guys that are going to come out and take it," Franklin said. "Because we need to win a ball game Tuesday night and to do it, you have to come out here and perform. You are not going to back into it. I don't know what other message to give, so I'm going to give that one over and over again. It's the same message I gave to all of those guys that have won Championships in the past. It's the same message I'm giving to these guys. So I'd like to see some guys do it."

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (77): Tasos Cook 5-13 1-2 11, Ryan Oliver 1-3 0-0 2, Caleb Johnson 8-10 3-5 19, Michael Osei-Bonsu 5-8 1-3 11, Shilo Jackson 2-4 1-1 5, Trenton Johnson 0-3 0-0 0, James Locke IV 0-2 0-0 0, Devawn White 0-2 0-0 0, Kris King 8-16 1-2 19, Kent King 0-0 0-0 0, Victor Lado 1-1 0-0 3, Karyiek Dixon 3-5 1-2 7, Team 33-67 8-15 77.

VU (25-4, 13-4) – 28   49 – 77

Wabash Valley – 36   46 – 82

Three-point goals: VU 3 (Kr. King 2, Lado). Rebounds: VU 33 (Osei-Bonsu 8). Assists: VU 19 (Kr. King 4). Steals: VU 4 (C. Johnson 2). Blocked Shots: VU 5 (Osei-Bonsu 2). Turnovers: VU 8. Personal Fouls: VU 26. Fouled out: None.