VINCENNES, Ind – Looking to get one more win at home before hitting the road for the first time, the VU Trailblazers found themselves down by 13 points heading into the locker room at halftime in the P.E. Complex Saturday night.
The Trailblazers battled back in the second half, slowly chipping away at the Parkland lead, until VU was finally able to recapture the lead with 2:57 to play.
Vincennes would close out the game at the free throw line as the all-freshman lineup from the VU Trailblazers finished off a 77-72 win over the Cobras.
VU got off to a hot start to begin the game, jumping out to a 10-2 lead with some help from back-to-back three's by freshman Darrius Davis (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and a slam by freshman Shilo Jackson (Indianapolis, Ind.).
Parkland would answer back with a 16-2 scoring run that put the Cobras ahead by six points.
Parkland would continue to grow their lead after a buzzer beater three put the Cobras ahead by 13 points at halftime 46-33.
Vincennes looked to respond on their home floor coming out of the locker room and quickly launched a 9-0 scoring run to pull within four.
The two teams then traded baskets for most of the second half, with the Parkland lead continually bouncing anywhere from four to nine points.
Vincennes was finally able to get the lead back after a 7-1 scoring run was capped off by another thunderous slam from Jackson gave the Trailblazers a 70-69 lead with 2:57 left on the clock.
Parkland would try to grab the momentum back from VU but the Trailblazers finished off the game at the free throw line, giving Vincennes the 77-72 win over the Cobras.
"Our guys just worked. This game was won in the last two days of practice and the shoot around today," VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. "That's where we gave ourselves an opportunity to win. Then when we had the opportunity to win, we had the chance to break and this game was won because we didn't break. If this group of freshmen hadn't prepared these last two days of practice we could not have won."
"We made some tweaks, we started running some things that Coach Glash used to run at Olney Central because we thought that fit our team better and we had to throw a lot at our guys in a couple of days," Franklin added. "While it's far from perfect, we got some things done. When you put the effort in, then you know on game day you are going to try to get that out and fight to get a win and I think that's what happened tonight."
"We got tested because we did things better in the first half but didn't guard as well. But we haven't been working defensively because we've had to spend so much time trying to figure something out offensively with this team. I thought we were on our heels in the first half but we were also unlucky. Parkland shot 70-percent from three in the first half and had a three at the end that made the score look worse than what we've played."
"In the second half we knew that we had to get down and make them miss shots and get them more uncomfortable. We did that, we outscored them 44-26 in the second half. That's just where we are as a team. Everything is going to be tough, we just have to keep building."
VU was led offensively off the bench by freshman Devawn White (Montreal, Quebec) who finished with his first double-double of his collegiate career with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
Darrius Davis also finished the game with 16 points, hitting three of six shots from behind the arc, while also dishing out three assists.
Freshman Trenton Johnson (South Bend, Ind.) also came through off the bench, scoring 15 points and grabbing four rebounds.
Freshman Thow James Biel (Calgary, Alberta) was the fourth VU scorer to reach double figures, ending his night with 12 points and five rebounds.
Freshman Marcus Clarke-Moore (Scarborough, Ontario) helped close out the game for the Trailblazers, hitting four of five shots from the free throw line on his way to six points and a team-high six assists off the bench.
Shilo Jackson battled foul trouble all game and still managed to come away with six points and 11 rebounds.
The Trailblazers played eight players throughout Saturday's contest. All eight players were first-year freshmen.
"I thought all our guys fought and battled and they're figuring it out," Franklin said. "I also thought we gave them a better chance by running some of the things Coach Glash ran at Olney Central by avoiding some of the more skill things and play to more of the effort things. I thought this group adapted to it as well as the could for only having a couple of days with it."
"The results were there, we'll see if they continue," Franklin added. "When you are able to shoot 50-percent, get 13 offensive rebounds and get 20 assists, which we hadn't come close to getting these things happen. We didn't shoot a lot of free throws, so we want to continue to grow on that, but this was a really good effort."
"Defensively, in the second half, we just fought and scrapped. We had some odd lineups because we were just going to play those guys that we thought had really been tuned in for the last two days. We fought and held them to 26 points in the second half, shooting 36-percent and mostly we just made it tougher on their shooters and that's a testament to those guys. If we look to avoid some of the freshmen mistakes along the way, then we're going to have a chance to win some games."
The Trailblazers will hit the road for the first time this season as VU travels to Mattoon, Ill. to take part in the Lake Land Classic, Tuesday Nov. 23 and Wednesday, Nov. 24.
Vincennes will face off against Triton College Tuesday, tip-off is set for 5 p.m. eastern, before taking on No. 8-ranked Indian Hills Wednesday, tip-off is set for 2 p.m. eastern.
"I just want to see us make a big jump over the next couple of days with the same level of work that we had over the last couple of days," Franklin said. "I want to see that and see what that adds up to because Triton and Indian Hills are more advanced than us in terms of age and talent. It's going to be difficult, we're going to kind of have to pitch a perfect game playing those guys now."
"That's just where we are. But we're going to try like heck, hopefully we're going to try like heck. I'm going to try like heck. Coach Davis and Coach Glash are going to try like heck. That's what we're worried about right now. We want to win, obviously, but we know where we're at right now. But we've advanced to the point where Parkland is a pretty good team and we outscored them by 18 in the second half. So that means we have a chance. If we had been this team Wednesday against Danville I think we could have won that game. So now that's the level that we have ascended to, can we keep moving."
VINCENNES BOX SCORE
VINCENNES (77): Thow James Biel 4-8 3-6 12, Shilo Jackson 3-4 0-0 6, Ketaan Wyatt 2-8 0-0 4, Darrius Davis 5-9 3-4 16, Grant Brown 1-4 0-0 2, Trenton Johnson 7-12 0-2 15, Devawn White 8-11 0-0 16, Marcus Clarke-Moore 1-6 4-5 6, Team 31-62 10-17 77.
Parkland – 46 26 – 72
VU (3-5) – 33 44 – 77
Three-point goals: VU 5 (Davis 3, James Biel, Johnson). Rebounds: VU 40 (White 14). Assists: VU 20 (Clarke-Moore 6). Steals: VU 4 (Jackson, Davis, White, Clarke-Moore). Blocked Shots: VU 2 (Clarke-Moore 2). Turnovers: VU 17. Personal Fouls: VU 23. Fouled out: Jackson, Davis.
