Southeast men try to put tough losses aside

Southeast Missouri State University players say they have no choice but to try and stay positive despite yet another narrow Ohio Valley Conference loss.

And they add that they can't afford to feel sorry for themselves, particularly not with two-time defending OVC regular-season champion Austin Peay visiting the Show Me Center today.

Southeast (6-10, 1-4 OVC) and the Governors (5-12, 3-2) will square off at 5 p.m.

"We've had two unbelievably tough losses. It doesn't get much worse," senior guard Derek Winans said following Thursday's 82-81 overtime setback to visiting Tennessee Tech, which was preceded by a 105-101 double-overtime loss at Tennessee State on Jan. 13.

Added Winans, "We have no choice but to work hard, and we can't feel sorry for ourselves."

Said senior forward Dainmon Gonner, the OVC's leading scorer at 20.4 points per game, "We have to stay positive and get ready for Austin Peay."

Southeast coach Gary Garner is singing much the same tune, even though he admitted that he worries about his players being beaten down mentally by all the tough losses. A third OVC defeat was by two points at Tennessee Tech on Jan. 8. Overall this season, Southeast has lost seven games by four points or less.

"Sure you worry, because success breeds success, and it works the other way too," Garner said. "It was a tough one to lose, but we'll bounce back. If we could just win one of those close games it could do so much for us."

Things don't figure to get any easier for Southeast today, even though Austin Peay is not nearly as formidable as last year's squad that rolled through the OVC's regular season without a loss.

The Govs returned only one starter from that team, senior guard Anthony Davis, who is the OVC's seventh-leading scorer at 15.2 points per game.

Also averaging in double figures for the Govs are junior guard Maurice Hampton (14 ppg) and junior center Zac Schlader (12.5 ppg). The 6-foot-9 Schlader exploded for a career-high 25 points during Austin Peay's 60-50 win over Southeast on Jan. 6 in Clarksville, Tenn.

Austin Peay, which has beaten Southeast 11 straight times, ranks statistically as one of the OVC's poorest offensive squads. Among the 11 conference teams, the Govs are ninth in scoring (62.4 ppg), 10th in field-goal percentage (.410) and ninth in 3-point field-goal percentage (.309).

"We've had some problems scoring, that's for sure," Austin Peay coach Dave Loos said. "We're quite honestly not as strong at some of the positions as we've been."

But Austin Peay still plays solid defense, which has been the staple of its program the past few years, and the Govs barely allowed Southeast room to breath during the early meeting this season.

"They are always a very good defensive team, and they have really good athletes to play that way," Garner said. "They really shut us down at their place, but hopefully we'll do a better job this time."

Today's contest marks the second of four straight home games for Southeast, which knows it needs to start posting some victories or the season could slip away in a hurry.

"We need a big win and hopefully we can get it [today]," Winans said.