Shorthanded Southeast beats Hawks

Considering how shorthanded Southeast Missouri State's men were for Tuesday night's home opener, coach Gary Garner was simply looking for any kind of a win over Division II Rockhurst.

It wasn't always easy or pretty, but Southeast was able to pull away from the stubborn Hawks in the second half for an 81-64 victory in front of 2,010 fans at the Show Me Center.

Southeast evened its record at 1-1, while the Hawks from Kansas City, Mo., fell to 1-4.

"Our energy level wasn't as good as I wanted. It never is in these kind of games," Garner said. "But we had a lot of positives and the main thing is we won."

Southeast has been without senior guard Derek Winans -- its leading scorer the past three seasons -- ever since practice began due to a stress fracture. Winans likely will miss at least a few more games.

Then over the weekend, senior forward Dainmon Gonner -- Southeast's second-leading scorer last year who poured in 36 points during Friday's season-opening loss at Bradley -- came down with a viral infection. He also did not play Tuesday.

Throw in senior guard Mike Nelke (sprained wrist) and junior forward James White (knee injury), who both also did not dress Tuesday, and Southeast certainly was not dealing with a full deck.

"We knew we were missing a lot of players, so we just said let's go out and get it done," senior forward Reggie Golson said.

Golson, senior guard Brett Hale and true freshman point guard Paul Paradoski were largely responsible for helping Southeast get things done.

Golson hit 12 of 15 shots and scored a career-high 30 points. He also pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds while adding four steals and two assists.

"I didn't know I scored that many," Golson said, smiling. "I thought I had about 16."

Hale hit 10 of 17 shots -- including five of eight 3-pointers -- on his way to 27 points. He also had four assists while playing the full 40 minutes.

"Not having as many bodies, I think we got tired," Hale said. "I don't know if it was our best game, but we're pleased to win."

Said Garner: "Offensively, Reggie has a lot of talent. And Brett is really playing well, with so much confidence."

Nobody appeared more confident than Paradoski, Southeast's only freshman who played four minutes off the bench during the season opener at Bradley.

Paradoski said he was told during Tuesday morning's shoot-around that he would be starting at the point against Rockhurst. All he did was join Golson in getting a double-double by scoring 10 points and dishing out 11 assists. Paradoski also had three steals and just one turnover in 35 minutes.

"When I found out I was starting, I was excited but not nervous," Paradoski said. "I just played it like a regular game."

Which surprised Hale.

"I know when I was a freshman, I was so nervous. I was really impressed with Paul," Hale said.

So was Garner, who added: "Paul doesn't play like a freshman."

Rockhurst led most of the first half, including 34-25 in the late going, before Southeast closed the period with a 12-0 run to go ahead 37-34 at the intermission.

Southeast quickly took control early in the second half and eventually built a 58-40 lead. Rockhurst cut it to nine points with six minutes left before Southeast pulled away again.

Joel Sobanski led the Hawks with 21 points. Terrance Dopson had 20.

Southeast shot 56.4 percent from the field on 31 of 55, and was nine of 17 on 3-pointers.