Southeast rattled off its seventh straight victory

Southeast Missouri State's Redhawks continued their rampage Saturday night -- along with their remarkable climb up the Ohio Valley Conference standings.

The Redhawks drilled Tennessee State 85-68 at the Show Me Center for their seventh straight victory, which marks the program's longest streak since moving up to the Division I level in 1991-92.

And all of a sudden, Southeast (13-10, 8-4) is in a three-way tie for second place, and just one game out of first.

"Second place," mused senior guard Derek Winans with a satisfied smile. "That's something, considering where we were."

The Redhawks were near the bottom of the 11-team OVC after beginning league play at 1-4 following three heartbreaking defeats, two of them in overtime.

"Seven in a row. I never could have imagined this," said Winans, who had never even been part of a three-game winning streak at Southeast prior to this season. "To be 1-4, at the bottom of the conference ... but it just shows the character we have."

Southeast coach Gary Garner, who has drawn plenty of criticism during the past three down seasons -- and during the Redhawks' slow start to begin OVC play this year -- couldn't have agreed more. He said he is most happy for his players.

"The way we started at 1-4, to win seven in a row, says so much about our character," Garner said. "We're just playing so well right now, with everybody accepting their role."

Senior forward Reggie Golson led four Southeast players in double figures by scoring 18 points. He also had a team-high seven rebounds despite battling the flu.

Sophomore guard Terrick Willoughby continued his recent surge with 16 points, as he hit four of seven 3-pointers. Willoughby, also playing with the flu, added four steals and three assists.

"The last seven games show how tough we are mentally," said Willoughby, who appeared plenty sick following the contest.

Said Garner, also battling the flu: "I was really worried about Reggie and Terrick, especially Terrick, because he looked really sick. They just gutted it out, which says a lot about them."

Winans and senior forward Dainmon Gonner also scored 16 points each. Winans had three assists and three steals, while Gonner added five rebounds and three steals before fouling out with just over five minutes remaining.

Freshman point guard Paul Paradoski had eight assists, two steals and no turnovers. He also hit his only 3-point attempt early in the game after struggling with his shooting most of the season, and added a key blocked shot late when TSU was rallying.

"Paul may have had one of his best games," Garner said.

Southeast also continued to get major bench contributions from senior guard Mike Nelke, junior guard Ryan Belcher and junior center Waylon Francis.

Belcher had seven points, five rebounds and two steals, while Francis added four points and three rebounds.

"Coach says come off the bench and don't worry about how many minutes you play, just rebound and play defense," Francis said.

Added Garner: "Waylon gave us great minutes, and so did Fuzzy. We're getting contributions from everybody."

Southeast, which never trailed, started fast and had a 14-point lead after less than eight minutes. It was 45-26 at halftime, thanks in large part to only three turnovers and six of nine 3-point shooting.

"That was maybe our best half of the year, considering both ends of the floor," Garner said.

Southeast went up 55-34 early in the second half before TSU (11-15, 6-6) closed to within eight points three times, the last at 63-55 with six minutes left.

Earlier this season in Nashville, Southeast led the Tigers by 18 points in the second half before falling in double overtime -- but there would be no repeat as the Redhawks scored the next six points and won going away.

"Basketball is a game of runs. Down there we lost our poise, but tonight we held our composure," Willoughby said.

The win was capped when seldom-used sophomore forward Cody Lewis -- who had not played in weeks -- drilled a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left.

"I was glad to see Cody hit that shot because he hasn't hardly been playing at all," Garner said.

Southeast shot just 43.3 percent for the game, but hit nine of 18 3-pointers and had only eight turnovers.

TSU shot 50 percent but made just three of 13 3-pointers and had 18 turnovers. Sophomore guard Bruce Price led the Tigers with 18 points.