No. 5 Trailblazers battle through adversity to win over No. 7 Indian Hills

VINCENNES, Ind. – The No. 5-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers closed out their seven-game home stand to begin the 2023-24 season with a big NJCAA Division I showdown with No. 7-ranked Indian Hills Community College Saturday night at the P.E. Complex.

The Trailblazers played a large majority of the game without freshman guard Lebron Thomas (Bishopville, S.C.) but were aided by 24 points by sophomore Ryan Oliver (Antioch, Tenn.), matching his career-high, to win over the Warriors 86-76.

Vincennes got off to an excellent start in front of the home crowd, using an 11-3 scoring run early in the first half to take a 19-8 lead.

Indian Hills would answer back and cut the VU lead down to three at 23-20, before the Blazers again grew their lead to nine.

The Warriors continued to battle throughout the first half, using a late three just before the buzzer to cut the deficit back down to three and head into the locker room at the half trailing Vincennes 35-32.

VU looked to set the tone early in the second half, outscoring the Warriors 20-9 to begin the second half and take a 14 point lead.

Indian Hills would again shift the momentum with a 10-0 scoring run to get back within four at 55-51.

VU would grow the lead back to nine after scoring five unanswered and get the lead back to double-digits at 70-60 after a big steal and slam by sophomore Kent King (Washington, D.C.).

Indian Hills would attempt another comeback late in the game, cutting the Vincennes lead down to just a single point at 77-76, before VU would close out the game at the free throw line and end on a 9-0 scoring run to finish off an 86-76 victory over No. 7 Indian Hills.

"When I saw Lebron go out early in the game, I knew it was going to be a roller coaster ride," VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. "There's almost no way it's not going to be when you lose your point guard in a game of this quality and this time of year and you're not ready for it. But that's part of it and you have to deal with it and I thought our guys, for the most part, did an excellent job because we were able to generate 86 points."

"We had moments, obviously, where it was a roller coaster ride," Franklin added. "But as I said in the postgame show, when you schedule the schedule we play, playing in November, when we're not ready and all of these teams are not all the way ready. We're just trying to figure it out and these guys are learning how to process things, you hope you can win while you learn. Both of these teams will be different basketball teams in three or four months. We hope we're making positive strides all the time and we're a lot better and normally we do."

"Experiences like this help all of the guys on the team," Franklin said. "And you've seen some of these guys go through it and I'll have people say to me, 'well, you need to let the pressure off of them'. No. Absolutely not. We're trying to win a National Championship. Now, are they always going to handle that pressure correctly? No. That's part of it. They are learning how. Playing these games, making demands. What we want them to do is to learn how to deal with it. And at the end of the day, the ones that can are going to be the ones at the end that you are going to trust when the whole year is on the line in the biggest games that anybody is going to play in."

"When you're playing in the Elite Eight and Final Four, National Championship games and you watched our team win a National title in 2019, you watched them play that game on national television and everything on there and you didn't see guys that were breaking there," Franklin added. "Well, they've been through all kinds of things like this and sometimes they have had different reactions and moments. That's why we do these things. That's why we schedule these teams and push these guys. We explain it to the guys, they know what we're doing and there will be times that they do really well in it and there's times when they won't and they will learn from that and the good ones always do."

"It was up and down tonight, but we had guys that at the end of the day, we gathered it up and were able to get it done," Franklin said. "Pretty or not pretty, it's still a very pretty win and we had to handle the adversity of the situation. We had to handle the adversity of some foul trouble from key guys inside. We had to handle the adversity of the momentum turning on us and can we turn it back now. It's always really hard to do. Some of that was self-inflicted. But, then again, you have to gather it up, it's all part of that learning process. It's time to do it and sometimes they respond and sometimes they don't this time of year and tonight we did and I'm very proud of them for that."

The Trailblazers were led offensively by 24 points by sophomore Ryan Oliver, matching his career high from last season.

Oliver came off the bench in place of Lebron Thomas and filled in with 24 points, seven rebounds and four assists, including hitting 14 of 15 from the free throw line.

Sophomore Kris King (Washington, D.C.) ended his night with 17 points and a team-high eight assists, including hitting 10 of 11 from the free throw line.

Sophomores Michael Osei-Bonsu (Bolingbrook, Ill.) and Karyiek Dixon (Enfield, London, UK) each recorded a double-double as the Trailblazers controlled the rebounding column all night.

Osei-Bonsu finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Dixon ended with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Sophomore Kent King finished his night with eight points, two rebounds, two assists and two big blocks, filling in most of the point guard duties for the night.

Freshman Mathieu Nader-Kalombo (Longueuil, Quebec) came off the bench to contribute some big minutes down the stretch and finished his night with eight points.

"I thought Ryan Oliver was the Ryan Oliver that we all know he can be," Franklin said. "He's been dealing with things like that and handling it. He wants to be really good. He wants this team to do really well and there's a lot of pressure there. First couple of weeks, he's processing it not as well as he might want to. But then he did and you can see that. You can see the growth. Now we'll see if he can consistently stay on that path. I'm really proud of him. I thought he was huge on both ends of the floor. I thought he did a really good job on the defensive end of the floor."

"Bonsu and Dixon combined to get 23 rebounds," Franklin added. "Kris King had eight assists with only two turnovers. He made some big plays down the stretch when we needed somebody to go at the basket. We opened the floor up and told him to go attack it and we thought he could attack and he did. He responded and got some big buckets going to the basket to finish some key plays."

"Most people had a real role in this game," Franklin said. "Victor, in the first half, got some big rebounds. We'd like to see him finish a little better and we know Vic wants to and that's the growth. Can we get to where now he pushes through that wall and finishes those plays. But he had some big rebounds in that first half when we had some guys in foul trouble."

"Obviously, Kent had to play all night," Franklin added. "He played close to 33 minutes out there playing the point. I thought he was pretty solid in the first half. They got after him and got hands in a little bit and he got tired and some guys weren't in the spots that they needed to be and it got a little bit in his head. But at the end of the game he was making plays. He had the big steal and took it in for a dunk. It's just not going to be perfect and I know that. I'm after them and pushing them but I know what it is. We've just got to try to expedite this process."

"But I'm really proud of them tonight," Franklin said. "I thought they fought. I thought they handled a number of things tonight that they had to handle. Again, it wasn't perfect, but it's not going to be perfect. But at the end of the day they gritted up and got it done."

The Trailblazers will hit the road for the first time this season next weekend when the Blazers travel to Moberly, Mo. to take part in the 2023 Moberly Area Classic Friday, Nov. 24 and Saturday, Nov. 25.

Vincennes will take on State Fair Community College from Sedalia, Mo. Friday, Nov. 24 at 4 p.m. eastern.

VU will conclude the weekend classic with another big Saturday showdown, this time against host and No. 15-ranked Moberly Area College Saturday, Nov. 25. Tip-off time Saturday is 8 p.m. eastern.

 "We've had three straight Saturdays to start the year where we're playing a Columbia State team that's going to be really good," Franklin said. "They are going to win a bunch of games in Tennessee. They played really hard and physical against us. We had to handle things in that game. Last weekend we played Monroe, who is probably going to win their District and they are probably going to be at Hutch and you're having to handle that."

"We've played other teams like Kankakee, who's a nice ball club that was undefeated coming in here," Franklin added. "And then we get this game. Obviously, a traditional matchup and you're playing without your point guard, who has been playing really well for you and someone that you are starting to depend on and our guys were still able to come out with a 10-point win."

"So, there's a lot of good things, but there's still a lot of things that we've got to get cleaned up," Franklin said. "But it's still November 18th and we've had all of this cluster of games during that short time. We always do it like that and it's always going to be up and down and all around. But we've managed to get seven wins out of those seven games and I'm proud of them for it. Now we'll get ready to get ourselves geared up with a little bit of practice time and go on the road for another marquee weekend going to Moberly against another big traditional power and I'm sure they'll be glad to see us."

"It's about what each individual takes away from these first seven games," Franklin added. "Everybody's got different things. Everybody's been through different experiences in these first seven games. We've all had ups and downs, things that we didn't really handle well, things we've learned. I just want to see the guys all collecting that data and trying to come out here and turn it into something positive."

"I think our guys have learned that when they handle things correctly, they can be pretty good," Franklin said. "When they don't, it's not much fun and it doesn't work out really well. It's pretty clear, out of our preseason and our games now, I don't think that there's a lot of confusion on how we need to go and attack this thing and process it. I've said many times, we've got good guys, they're just young guys that are learning."

"There's just not this kind of pressure that builds up as much as they come up through the system anymore," Franklin added. "It used to be in the rivalries in high school but that's just not the same as this. They just haven't had that pressure until now. Real pressure and at a level where they are playing against men. It's just different. With the schedule that we play, you are learning on the fly and you're getting thrown to the fire. And if you are us, you're expected to win every game and we're playing against other people who are kind of expected to win all of the time. We'll, there's going to be some ups and downs in that. That's not easy. But we want that. I think it's good for us. I think it's good for them."

"We've had some guys where they are not cut out for it," Franklin said. "Well, we're going to find that out. And the ones that are cut out for it, it's going to take them to newer and newer levels. They get so much better and they are able to handle it whenever they leave here. Look at how our guys do wherever they go. We almost have nobody that just fails. They're ready, they handle it and we want to make sure that they've been given every chance to be prepared, the ones that are capable of that. That's what all of this is about. In the immediate it's about trying to chase that next banner and in so doing, they are put into all of these positions where they have to deal with the pressures and expectations and all of the processes that go along with that. In the long term, it's about handling all of the stuff life is going to throw at them and the first stop might be the next place that they are playing, if they will be successful and they'll not just be a good player, but they will be able to stay there and get their degree and things will work out."

"That's the idea," Franklin added. "So these things, you see it. It's on display, the whole world watches, it's just there and it's raw in what it is. But it's worked out really well in the past and I think we've had a good start on it if our guys take that information now and go forward with it. I think they want to and I think we have good guys and I think we're capable of doing a lot of really good things and I'm proud of them to this point. Now we'll see going forward. It's about what you do after this, now the next stage and it will be that way all the way through to March. But I'm really proud of the fact that they were able to gut this one out."

BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (86): Kris King 3-9 10-11 17, Michael Osei-Bonsu 4-8 5-6 13, Karyiek Dixon 3-6 3-4 10, Kent King 3-7 0-2 8, Lebron Thomas 1-3 0-0 2, Damarien Yates 0-1 0-1 0, Gerard Thomas 0-3 1-2 1, Mathieu Nader-Kalombo 3-4 0-0 8, Ryan Oliver 4-9 14-15 24, Victor Lado 0-4 3-6 3, Team 21-54 36-47 86.

Indian Hills – 32   44 – 76

VU (7-0) – 35   51 – 86

Three-point goals: VU 8 (Ke. King 2, Nader-Kalombo 2, Oliver 2, Kr. King, Dixon). Rebounds: VU 48 (Osei-Bonsu 12). Assists: VU 18 (Kr. King 8). Steals: VU 4 (Ke. King, L. Thomas, G. Thomas, Oliver). Blocked Shots: VU 4 (Ke. King 2). Turnovers: VU 20. Personal Fouls: VU 26. Fouled out: Osei-Bonsu. Technical Fouls: Dixon (2 – 3:09).