Another slip late costs Southeast home win

Southeast Missouri State University's inability to close out games showed up again Saturday night.

Morehead State scored the game's final nine points to squeeze out a 59-53 victory in front of 4,235 fans at the Show Me Center, handing the Indians another in a recent string of disheartening losses.

The Indians, who in two recent Ohio Valley Conference contests lost an 18-point second-half lead against Eastern Illinois and a 16-point first-half lead against Tennessee State, fell to 3-12 overall, 1-3 in the OVC.

The Eagles, who lost the previous eight meetings with Southeast, are 7-7 overall, 2-2 in the OVC.

"We could easily have a winning record instead of a losing record," said Southeast redshirt freshman guard Derek Winans, who led all scorers with 20 points but saw no teammate contribute more than eight points. "We're just that close. We got the lead at the end but we had a couple of turnovers and didn't take care of the ball."

The final minutes Saturday were enough to give Southeast coach Gary Garner nightmares.

Southeast, down 50-46 with four minutes left after a 10-0 MSU run, surged back. A Winans 3-pointer with 3:46 remaining made it 50-49, then Monte Gordon hit two free throws at 3:06 to give the Indians a 51-50 lead. A Drew DeMond drive with 2:04 left made it 53-50.

The Indians did not score again, although they still held that three-point margin with under a minute to go.

But with 54 seconds left, MSU star Ricky Minard was hacked by Demetrius King on a 3-point attempt. Minard made two of three free throws to bring the Eagles to within 53-52.

Just seconds later, Minard stripped Southeast point guard Kenny Johnson in the backcourt and cruised in for a breakaway dunk with 46 seconds left to put the Eagles on top 54-53.

On Southeast's next possession, Johnson threw a pass into traffic on an inbounds play and the Eagles came up with the steal, which led to another Minard breakaway dunk at the 25-second mark, making it 56-53.

Tim Scheer missed a 3-point try with nine seconds to go and Minard made one of two free throws with seven seconds left for a 57-53 lead. MSU's Iker Lopez grabbed the rebound after Minard missed the second foul shot and Lopez made two free throws with six seconds left to complete Southeast's nightmarish finish.

"We just totally self destructed at the end," Garner said. "Whenever we get in close games, we just don't ever get over the hump.

"This was the most frustrating one of all. We had this game won and let it get away from us. We had every opportunity to win the game."

Minard, a sophomore swingman who entered the contest as the OVC's third-leading scorer at nearly 21 points per game, struggled with his shooting and hit six of 15 from the field. But Minard, who scored a team-high 17 points, made many of the Eagles' big plays down the stretch.

"I struggled, but any time I can make plays I try to do it and the other guys played well," said Minard, who added of his late strip against Johnson, "I thought it was clean, but on the road you never know how the call is going to go."

Rugged forward Kyle Umberger added 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Eagles.

Both teams shot poorly, Southeast 40 percent (18 of 45) and MSU 41 percent (23 of 56). The Eagles missed all nine of their 3-point attempts while the Indians went 6-for-17 from long range, including 4-for-6 by Winans.

But Southeast had 20 turnovers to 13 for MSU. And a couple of the Indians' late miscues loomed particularly large.

mmishow@semissourian.com

(573) 335-6611, extension 132