Southeast men win at EIU, improve to 6-0 as Redhawks

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Southeast Missouri State's Redhawks are so hot these days, they can win on the road even when their coach doesn't think they played all that well.

Such was the case Tuesday night as the Redhawks took control of a tight game late to post their sixth straight victory, 88-79 over Eastern Illinois.

So the Redhawks (12-10, 7-4) continued their move up the Ohio Valley Conference standings as they swept their three-game road swing.

The Redhawks took over sole possession of fourth place in the 11-team OVC and, because they are idle Thursday while other top contenders square off, are assured of being in a third-place tie when they host Tennessee State Saturday night.

"We didn't play as well as we're capable of playing," Southeast coach Gary Garner said. "I didn't think we started the game with enough energy.

"There's a difference between playing hard, and playing with that great emotion you have to have to win on the road. We had it in spurts, but not nearly long enough."

Added a smiling Garner, "But late in the game I think we really braced up, and then we really closed it up strong. To win six in a row, and three in a row on the road, I'm really happy for the guys."

Southeast's six-game winning streak ties the program's longest since moving to the Division I level in 1991-92. The 1999-2000 team that went 24-7 and advanced to the NCAA tournament also won six straight.

"It's unbelievable to win six in a row. It feels great," senior point guard Mike Nelke said. "And it's really tough to win three in a row on the road."

Nelke came off the bench and hit all three of his 3-point attempts in the first half to help ignite an early sputtering offense.

"On the bench I felt like we were kind of flat to start the game, and me and Fuzzy [Belcher] and Waylon [Francis] always talk about coming in and bringing energy," Nelke said. "My shot felt pretty good, especially when I got an open look and hit that first one."

Nelke finished with a season-high 14 points -- he made four of five 3-pointers -- and also had four assists.

"Mike probably had his best game of the year," Garner said. "He held us in the game in the first half."

Senior forward Dainmon Gonner, the OVC's leading scorer who is also first in the league in steals and minutes played, scored 23 points while going the entire 40 minutes. He added 10 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

"It's beautiful," said Gonner of the winning streak. "But we're just taking it game by game."

Said Garner, "I keep telling myself I'm not going to play Dainmon 40 minutes, and then here I do it again."

Sophomore guard Terrick Willoughby continued his recent surge with 17 points. He's averaging about 19 points over his last five games.

"We struggled the first half. Our defense was terrible," Willoughby said. "But we pulled it together in the second half. We're playing hard and we've got a lot of momentum."

Senior guard Derek Winans scored 12 points and had a key blocked shot late.

"It's great, the way everything is coming together for us right now," Winans said.

Senior forward Reggie Golson, first in the OVC in rebounding and blocked shots, added 11 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks.

Belcher, a junior guard, added nine points off the bench. Southeast also continued to get solid play from freshman starting point guard Paul Paradoski and Francis, a junior reserve center.

"It was a total team effort," Golson said.

Junior guard Josh Gomes led the Panthers (9-13, 4-7) with 28 points as he hit 12 of 16 shots. EIU has lost just twice at home in OVC play.

"They're a good team, and they're really tough to beat here," Garner said.

The game was tight virtually the whole way, with no team leading by more than eight points until the final five minutes.

Southeast trailed 15-7 early and led 32-26 before the squads went to halftime deadlocked 39-39.

EIU surged ahead by seven points twice early in the second half, but Southeast pulled into a 57-57 tie with 13 minutes left. Nobody led by more than two points for the next seven minutes.

It was 66-66 when Willoughby put Southeast ahead for good on a driving shot with 5:31 left.

That started a quick 7-0 spurt that ended with Belcher's 3-pointer at the 4:21 mark, making it 73-66.

The Panthers closed to 76-73 on a long 3-pointer by senior guard Emmanuel Dildy with 2:08 left, but Southeast finished strong and hit 10 of 12 free throws in the final 1:21, including six of six by Gonner.

Southeast shot 52.6 percent (30 of 57), made 12 of 25 3-pointers (48 percent) and had 12 turnovers.

After shooting 53.6 percent in the first half, EIU wound up at 47.6 percent (30 of 63).

"We couldn't stop them for a long time," Garner said. "But we stopped them enough when we had to."