VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers erased a 17-point first half lead by Danville Area to take the lead midway through the second half but ultimately fell to the Jaguars 55-45 Wednesday night.
VU got off to a slow start offensively as the Jaguars used an early 14-0 scoring run to open up a 16-4 lead over the Trailblazers.
Danville Area continued to build on this lead before it reached 25-8 midway through the first half.
Vincennes closed out the first half by outscoring Danville Area 11-4 to cut the deficit to 30-21 at the break.
VU traded baskets with Danville Area until the Trailblazers launched a 9-0 scoring run, fueled by freshman Thow James Biel (Calgary, Alberta) who scored seven points during the run.
A layup by Ketaan Wyatt (Toledo, Ohio) gave Vincennes a 41-40 lead with 8:14 to play in the second half.
The Jaguars answered this scoring run with a 13-2 scoring run of their own to give Danville Area a 10-point advantage, which would ultimately by the final as Danville Area comes away with the 55-45 victory.
"Danville pressured us, man-to-man pressured us," VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. "They got in our chest and we don't like that. Other than that, we outrebounded them by 13 and we held them to 55 points. I thought there were times down the stretch where we let them back us in and put it in the basket a few times but we got plenty of stops, which is how we were able to go from 17 down to one up."
"We got stops, we got rebounds, the problem is the book is out on us. When you pressure us and get in our chest then we will not be able to run anything offensively," Franklin added. "That's what happened. They didn't trap us, they didn't do anything exotic, they just pressured us man-to-man."
"Right now, we don't win on screens. Every play we call will have some type of screens in it and we don't win any screens. We can't put a guy in the space and get by the defender, make a read or score the ball like we need to be able to do when they are extended like that and we can't do that at any position right now. The first 23 years of my career that's what we would do, right now that option has not been on the table."
The Trailblazers were led offensively by Thow James Biel, who finished with 15 points and three rebounds.
Brevin Jefferson (Indianapolis, Ind.) finished with double-figures in points with 11 on the night to go along with four rebounds.
Freshman Shilo Jackson (Indianapolis, Ind.) nearly came away with another double-double, finishing with eight points and eight rebounds.
Freshman Devawn White (Montreal, Quebec) led the Trailblazers in rebounds with 10, while also finishing with team-highs in assists and steals with two each, as well as six points.
"This game is not complicated," Franklin said. "We could have been better defensively, but we were plenty good enough to win. We just can't handle pressure right now. I'm not talking about presses I'm talking about on-ball pressure."
"Right now, we can't handle the pressure of the moment either," Franklin added. "We start every game and we can't score, we can't function. The last two days of practice we did nothing but work offensively, so I can't put any more practice time into it."
"We go to the bench and at halftime we've got no assists and seven turnovers. Right now, we've got a problem of how to put our lineup together. Thow is not being very effective as a three but Devawn is playing better than all the other guys we could have in the game. He's got to play at the four because he can't really play on the outside. The problem is that Thow is not really effective at the three spot as he would be at the four and Devawn is more effective at the four. I've got to figure out how to make that work, which is not easy."
"We're definitely at a winning level defensively. I don't think anyone is scoring on us easy. I think that we're battling on the glass pretty good against everybody, even the top teams we've been competitive. But if we can't find a way to handle pressure and make some people pay because they get in our chest, it's a problem. I'm the one that takes the blame for whatever it is, but that's just where we are."
Vincennes will return to the home floor this Saturday, Nov. 20 when the Trailblazers play host to Parkland College from Champaign, Ill. Tip-off time is set for 7 p.m. eastern.
"We have to not regress defensively or on the glass. We have to continue to get better and stay tough-minded there," Franklin said. "Those are the things that are keeping us competitive, so we can't suddenly lose that too. Then we've got to have some guys who can take on the pressure. We'll address it and try to deal with it but at some point we have to be able to deal with the pressure."
"We've got to be able to win the screen game," Franklin added. "We've got to be able to set up a screen, screen somebody, then come off the screen and make something happen. If we don't then we're not going to win."
"We held Columbia State to 53 points and lost and we gave up 55 tonight and lost and we're not going to do better than that. We're going to have to find some places where we can handle it and find some offense. Now if we can start getting something better there, then we probably would have won against Columbia State and we probably would have won tonight. Then we would be sitting here at 4-3 with a completely different perspective, if we just got a little bit of offense and a little less turnovers and panicking once we're pressured."
"I don't know how we're going to do a whole lot better defensively or on the glass than what we did tonight. 55 points, holding them right at 40-percent shooting and outrebounding them by 13. Those are winning numbers on your home floor every time. I don't think there has been a game in my career where we have held someone to 55 points and outrebounded them by 13 and lost. But I don't have a lot of five assists and 22 turnover games in the previous 24 years either."
VINCENNES BOX SCORE
VINCENNES (45): Thow James Biel 6-12 2-2 15, Shilo Jackson 3-4 2-2 8, Devawn White 3-5 0-0 6, Brevin Jefferson 3-5 4-5 11, Grant Brown 1-9 0-0 3, Trenton Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Ketaan Wyatt 1-4 0-0 2, Darrius Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Deatrick Pashell 0-2 0-0 0, Team 17-41 8-9 45.
Danville Area 30 25 – 55
VU (2-5) 21 24 – 45
Three-point goals: VU 3 (James Biel, Jefferson, Brown). Rebounds: VU 30 (White 10). Assists: VU 5 (White 2). Steals: VU 5 (White 2). Blocked shots: VU 4 (Brown 2). Turnovers: VU 22. Personal Fouls: VU 16. Fouled out: None.
