Atmosphere at Southeast basketball game was electric

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team turned back the clock Wednesday night.

It was certainly a sight to behold.

The fifth-largest crowd for a Southeast home game came to see the Redhawks host a nationally ranked Division I opponent for the first time.

Murray State spoiled the party with a 75-66 victory, but that in no way detracted from what was the best and most electric atmosphere for a Southeast basketball game in Cape Girardeau in more than a decade.

An announced 7,125 fans jammed into the Show Me Center, which lists a capacity of 7,000. It was just the fifth sellout for a Southeast men's basketball game at the 25-year-old facility.

The previous sellout came during Southeast's 1999-2000 NCAA tournament season when a record crowd of 7,241 saw the then-Indians and Racers square off.

That campaign 12 years ago marked one of the last times Southeast basketball was truly relevant.

Coach Dickey Nutt, in just his third season at Southeast, has done a remarkable job of changing that in a relatively short period of time after taking over a floundering program.

About the only way Wednesday night could have gone better would have been for the Redhawks to win, but give the Racers credit for not letting that happen. I thought they were outstanding, especially defensively.

The Racers, who have grown accustomed to playing in front of sold-out arenas on the road because of their national profile, clinched the outright Ohio Valley Conference championship.

MSU (26-1, 13-1), ranked 14th and 16th in the two major national polls after recently being as high as seventh, already had secured at least a share of its third consecutive OVC regular-season title.

Southeast's second loss of the year to the Racers eliminated the Redhawks from contention for the No. 2 seed in the OVC tournament. That's important because the top two finishers earn byes into the semifinals of the eight-team event.

But that doesn't detract from the type of breakthrough season Southeast is having.

The Redhawks (14-13, 9-5) remain third in the 11-team OVC. That's also important because the third and fourth seeds receive byes into the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. Southeast needs one win in its final two games to secure no worse than the No. 4 seed.

Southeast ends the regular season with two road games this week, visiting Jacksonville State on Thursday and Austin Peay on Saturday.

It's safe to say the atmosphere in those arenas won't come close to matching what took place at the Show Me Center on Wednesday.

Here's hoping the Redhawks have more nights similar to that over the next few years, which would mean that Nutt and his staff have continued to elevate the program.

---

The Southeast women's basketball team also finishes the regular season this week, traveling to Jacksonville State on Thursday and to Austin Peay on Saturday.

Southeast (6-21, 3-11), despite its third consecutive campaign of at least 20 losses, still has a solid opportunity to make the OVC tournament for the first time in three years.

There is a good chance the final OVC tournament berth will be decided Saturday at Austin Peay.

---

The Southeast baseball team didn't come away with a win during its season-opening series, but the Redhawks gave a good account of themselves.

Southeast dropped three tight games at Dallas Baptist, which won an NCAA regional last year and is ranked 33rd in one national poll.

The Redhawks outhit the Patriots in all three contests and finished with an overall 26-17 advantage. Southeast lost 7-6 and 3-2 on Friday, then fell 3-1 in a game that was rained out after five innings Saturday.

Now the Redhawks will gear up for 11 consecutive home games -- weather permitting -- beginning Tuesday when Harris-Stowe visits Capaha Field for a 3 p.m. first pitch.

---

The high school basketball season heats up this week with Class 4 and 5 district tournaments. Classes 1 through 3 play their districts the following week.

Plenty of eyes will be focused on Class 4 District 1 at Sikeston, where the defending state champion host team and Notre Dame will be heavily favored to again meet in the boys final. A dangerous Perryville squad may have something to say about that.

Notre Dame earned the top seed, meaning No. 2 Sikeston and No. 3 Perryville likely will square off in the semifinals.

The top-seeded Central boys are riding high entering Class 5 District 1 at Jackson. The Tigers recently took down state powerhouses Sikeston and Charleston in consecutive games and finished as SEMO Conference co-champions along with Charleston.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.