SENIORS TO PLAY THEIR FINAL HOME GAME ON SATURDAY

We're headed down the stretch with some momentum after a great win over Eastern Illinois on Saturday night. I thought we had our best offensive execution of the season which resulted in a field goal percentage of over 55 percent.

We got contributions from 11 different players in the Eastern Illinois game and it was a truly unselfish team effort that resulted in a win over an excellent team. We had not been finishing games at the Show Me Center, but good execution and a great tip by Emmanuel McCuthison gave us the win.

It is important that we continue our momentum this week with home games against Eastern Kentucky on Thursday and Morehead State on Saturday. We had to go into overtime to beat Morehead earlier this year and we had to rally in the final minute to beat Eastern Kentucky, so we will be challenged in both games. It is important that we continue to play well and that we win because the OVC Tournament begins next Tuesday and we want to go into the tourney with momentum and confidence regardless of who we play or where we play.

Saturday night we will honor our five seniors. This group of senior has been a very dedicated group for two years. They all played a big part in our great success last year and they have stayed together this year when things haven't gone like we had all hoped they would.

Our regular season has been disappointing to our staff, players and fans, but this group of seniors has hung tough. They continue to practice hard and always represent Southeast Missouri State in a very positive fashion. I couldn't be prouder!

Nyah Jones has been with us for two years and has continued to practice as hard as anybody. He hasn't had the senior season he would have liked, but he continues to work hard. I am proud of Nyah's work ethic and his ability to stay positive and make us a better team.

Antonio Short has been a two-year starter who has been consistent in about every area. He is a very solid defensive player and is very competitive and tough.

Amory Sanders has been slowed his senior season by a bruised bone in his foot, but he has played in pain and has played extremely well. He currently leads the nation in 3-point field goal accuracy and that is a tremendous accomplishment. There are over 3,000 NCAA Division I players shooting 3-pointers, but no one has shot with better accuracy than Amory. I just wish we could get him more shots.

McCuthison has been a consistent scorer and rebounder who also usually has the task of guarding the opponent's best player. Although he is only 6 feet 4 inches tall, E-mail leads us in rebounding and I'm encouraged by the fact he is playing his best basketball of the year right now.

Simply said, Michael Stokes is one of the top point guards in the nation. He is having a great senior season and leads our basketball team in six different statistical categories, including scoring. Michael is not only a great player but a great role model for all young people.

This is a great group of seniors. We've traveled a lot of miles together and experienced some great wins and some tough losses, but regardless, this group has done a great job representing Southeast Missouri State.

Saturday will also be our final home game of the season and I want to thank all you fans for hanging with us this season. We've had our disappointments this year, but our team has stayed together and our fans have continued to support us. It would have been easy for our fans to give up and stay away, but they have been behind us, and our staff and players really appreciate it.

We need two wins this week to give us five straight wins going into the OVC Tournament, which we think we can win! I'll see you at the Show Me Center.

Gary Garner is the head basketball coach at Southeast Missouri State University.