Southeast nabs first OVC win

Gary Garner realizes that by no means is Southeast Missouri State University a dominant team.

But Garner also knows that when Southeast takes care of the basketball and shoots a fairly high percentage, the coach has a solid squad capable of competing well in the Ohio Valley Conference.

For one night at least, that formula worked to perfection as Southeast picked up a much-needed victory, rolling past Eastern Illinois 79-60 in front of 3,242 fans at the Show Me Center.

Southeast, bouncing back from a two-loss road trip to begin conference play, improved to 6-8 overall and 1-2 in the OVC. EIU fell to 5-9 and 0-3.

"We played well from the opening buzzer to the final buzzer," Garner said. "We really shared the basketball tonight, better than we have been, and we got a lot of help from a lot of people."

In losing by 10 points at Austin Peay and by two points at Tennessee Tech last week, Southeast shot well under 45 percent from the field in both games and had 20 turnovers in each contest.

Tuesday, Southeast shot 49.1 percent and had 10 turnovers -- including only one turnover during a decisive first half.

"When we play together, we can get a lot of wins like that," senior forward Dainmon Gonner said.

Garner and Gonner also pointed out how well Southeast shot its free throws Tuesday, hitting 18 of 20 for a sizzling 90 percent.

Southeast entered the game shooting less than 70 percent from the line -- including making just 21 of 34 against Tennessee Tech.

"We made our free throws tonight. If we make them at Tennessee Tech, we win and then we're sitting here in as good a position in the conference as anybody," Garner said.

Gonner and fellow senior forward Reggie Golson were Southeast's primary culprits at the line against Tennessee Tech as they went a combined 13 of 24. Tuesday, they went a combined 12 of 14.

"We have to hit our free throws," Gonner said. "They're free and we have to take advantage."

Southeast didn't really need that strong a performance from the charity stripe against EIU, as it romped despite getting into an early seven-point hole.

Golson dominated inside on his way to game-high totals of 24 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. He hit 10 of 12 shots from the field, including a pair of thunderous dunks.

"It felt good to bounce back after the other night," Golson said. "When we play together, we're a good team."

Gonner was right behind with 23 points, while senior guard Derek Winans added 11. Gonner also had two blocks and three steals.

"It's a nice win, to bounce back at home," Gonner said. "We have to take care of our home court."

Senior point guard Mike Nelke came off the bench to dish out a team-high five assists, and he hit two of three 3-pointers, while sophomore guard Terrick Willoughby and freshman point guard Paul Paradoski both added four assists.

Southeast also got a lift from junior guard Ryan "Fuzzy" Belcher, who helped get the crowd going with a pair of impressive fast-break dunks. He should receive increased playing time now that senior guard Brett Hale is out with a wrist injury that could sideline him for the remainder of the season.

"Those dunks felt good," said the 6-foot-2 Belcher. "And it was good to get a win."

The Panthers led 15-8 after seven minutes, but it was pretty much all Southeast the rest of the way.

Southeast went on a 14-0 run to go ahead 22-15 and steadily built its least the rest of the half, settling for a 42-28 advantage at the break.

EIU never really made a run in the second half. The Panthers only sliced the deficit to under 10 points once, that coming at 58-49 with 7:32 remaining.

Golson answered with a conventional three-point play just 16 seconds later, and Southeast coasted the rest of the way, its biggest lead being 20 points in the late going.

"They were hungry and they jumped on us early," Gonner said. "But we just turned it up another notch."

Junior guard Josh Gomes led the Panthers with 21 points. Senior forward Aaron Patterson added 14.

"It's good to get that first conference win," Golson said. "We're still confident about the race. It's going to be wide open, and I don't think anybody is going to run away with it."