Southeast men seek road split vs. Eagles

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- The memory of last year's game at the Eblen Center is certainly not a good one for Southeast Missouri State University.

Southeast and host Tennessee Tech were tied and appeared headed for overtime -- when a touch foul in a non-shooting situation was called on Southeast with just two seconds remaining.

The Eagles hit one of the ensuing two free throws to pull out a 74-73 victory that was among many narrow, frustrating losses during Ohio Valley Conference play for Southeast as it tied for last place in the 11-team league.

Tonight, Southeast and Tech square off again at the Eblen Center in a 7:30 p.m. tipoff that will conclude Southeast's two-game road swing to begin OVC play.

"Needless to say, last year's game there was really disappointing, especially because of the way it ended," Southeast coach Gary Garner said. "We had a lot of frustrating losses in conference play last year."

But this is a new season, and Southeast hopes for better fortunes in the OVC, although its conference schedule did not start off well as two-time defending regular-season champion Austin Peay claimed a 60-50 victory Thursday night.

That defeat, however, did not appear to dim the spirits of Southeast senior forward Reggie Golson, who scored a team-high 18 points.

"We had a rough game and it was disappointing," Golson said. "But we can bounce back and learn from the loss. I think we're going to come out strong."

Garner said before Southeast (5-7, 0-1) left for its two-game road trip that, while not conceding any contest, he would be more than happy to come away with a split against teams expected to contend for upper-division conference finishes.

Right now, a split is the best Southeast can hope for -- and it won't be easy against a Tech (6-6, 1-0) squad that features arguably the league's premier player.

Tech, which posted two narrow wins over Southeast last year -- including a two-point victory in Cape Girardeau on a shot at the buzzer -- is led by Willie Jenkins, a 6-foot-6 senior forward who is the OVC's preseason player of the year.

Jenkins, a former transfer from Massachusetts, was the second-leading scorer in the OVC last year at 19.5 points per game. He's averaging 20 points per contest this season and had 28 during Thursday's OVC-opening 86-72 home win over Eastern Illinois.

The versatile Jenkins is quick enough to blow past defenders on his way to the basket, yet he is also shooting 46 percent from 3-point range.

"He's a great player, maybe the best in the conference," Garner said. "He's going to be a tough matchup for us."

Another 6-6 senior forward, Tennessee transfer Derek Stribling, is Tech's only other double-figure scorer at nearly 12 points per game, but the Eagles have nine players who see at least 10 minutes of action per contest.

"They've got a lot of depth, which is something we don't have," Garner said.

Another concern for Garner is rebounding. Tech averages a whopping six more rebounds than the opposition, while Southeast is being outrebounded by an average of more than two per game.

"We're not very big and strong, and rebounding is a concern because they're a really good rebounding team," Garner said. "They're also very athletic, one of the most athletic teams in the league."