BELLEVILLE, Ill. - Trailing by as many as 14 points in the second half, the Vincennes University men’s basketball team used the three-pointer to storm back against District 16 foe Southwestern Illinois Wednesday night.

Kevin Osawe connected on a trio of 3-pointers in the second half to spark the comeback as the No. 4 Trailblazers improved to 16-1 overall and 6-1 in district play with a 78-76 win.

Osawe finished with a career-high 20 points.

Keith Clemons gave VU a 77-76 lead on a driving layup with 24 seconds left in the game.

Colton Sandage split a pair of free throws with seven seconds left for the final margin of victory.

A 3-pointer by the Blue Storm’s Destan Williams put the Trailblazers behind 56-42 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the game.

Craig Porter knocked down a 3-pointer to spark a quick 8-0 run to give the ‘Blazers momentum.

VU finished the game on a 10-5 run over the final 3:47.

Lony Francis, Jr. (13), Porter (12), Sandage (12) and Clemons (11) all joined Osawe in double figures in scoring.

The five double figure scorers helped counter the 42-point explosion by Javonte Perkins.

The SWIC sophomore entered the game with the seventh best scoring average in all of National Junior College Athletic Association Division 1 with 25.1 points per game.

VU trailed 12-3 in the opening five minutes of the game and 39-32 at the half.

The Trailblazers return to the court Saturday against Shawnee inside the P.E. Complex.

###

TRAVIS DAVID, Assistant Sports Information Director

   812-888-6831 office, vuathletics@vinu.edu

MARCIA MARTINEZ, University Life Reporter & Sports Information Director

   812-888-4164 office, 314-599-1519 cell, VUNews@vinu.edu, mmartinez@vinu.edu

VINCENNES UNIVERSITY, Department of University Relations

www.govutrailblazers.com

LINK to VU Online Newsroom, click HERE