COLLEGE BASKETBALL: INDIANS HOLD OFF FURIOUS VIKING RALLY

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Entering Sunday afternoon's consolation championship game of the Energia Systems Thanksgiving Tournament, Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball coach Gary Garner knew his team would have to do all it could to simply beat a talented Cleveland State squad.

That's why Garner was thrilled even though the Indians lost all of a 19-point second half lead before ultimately squeezing out a scintillating 72-71 victory.

"People always ask how you lose a lead like that, but they don't ask how you got the lead to begin with," said Garner. "I'm looking at the clock and we're up 16 against a good basketball team and I'm thinking, that's not going to last.

"I told the players after the game that most teams would have lost that game, after being up by 19 points and then to have the other team come back and have all the momentum. Instead, we showed our character."

So a tourney that began on a down note for the Indians -- they lost to eventual champion Toledo by 16 points in Friday's opening round -- ended with a bang as Southeast won its final two games to finish in fifth place.

Southeast improved to 4-1 while Cleveland State fell to 3-2.

"Coming into the tournament, our goal was to win the championship and I thought we could. But after losing the first one, to come back and win our last two, I feel like we had a good tournament," said Garner.

In a game that saw several Southeast players stand out, big center Terry Rogers hit the game-winning shot on a free throw with 7.1 seconds left.

With 9.6 seconds remaining, Cleveland State's Anthony Jackson scored a layup to tie things at 71-71, and he drew a foul from Rogers on the play. Jackson missed the free throw, keeping the contest even.

Rogers grabbed the rebound on the missed foul shot by Jackson and he was in turn fouled. The 6-foot-10, 280-pound junior would be shooting two free throws, since the Vikings were over the limit. He looked bad in missing the first but drilled the second for his only point of the game.

When Cleveland State's Jermaine Robinson misfired on an open 15-footer just before the buzzer, the Indians had escaped with the victory.

"For Terry to step up and make that free throw was big," Garner said.

Rogers sported a wide smile as he explained what took place at the line with the game on the line.

"I turned around (after missing the first shot), I saw Michael (Stokes) and he told me I was going to make it," said Rogers. "I've never hit a (game-winning) free throw like that. It feels good."

Senior forward Emmanuel McCuthison had another strong game as he continued his consistent early-season play. McCuthison has reached double figures in scoring in every contest so far and Sunday he led the Indians with 18 points, hitting five of eight shots from the field, including three of five from 3-point range.

Stokes, the Indians' senior point guard, turned in his best performance of the season as he consistently sped by the Vikings for acrobatic shots in the lane and was a major pest defensively. Stokes scored 15 points, tied Rogers for team-high rebounding honors with five, dished out four assists and had five steals.

"I thought Stokie played really great," said Garner.

Said Stokes, "The last couple of games, I felt I was playing bad. I wanted to be more aggressive."

Senior guard Antonio Short matched Stokes with 15 points as he hit six of eight shots from the field, but Short was just two of eight from the free-throw line and he missed several critical foul shots down the stretch.

Nyah Jones, the Indians' 6-11 senior center, had his best game so far as he continues to climb out of an early-season funk. Jones added 11 points, hitting four of seven field-goal attempt.

Southeast also got a big lift off the bench from freshman point guard Joel Shelton, who continues to make strides as a capable backup to Stokes. Shelton made several highlight-reel passes, including a pair of long alley-oop lobs to Jones for easy buckets, one a dunk. Shelton also hit three of four free throws in the first half.

"I have tremendous confidence in Joel, especially for a freshman," said Garner.

Southeast scored the game's first five points and never trailed. The Indians built several 11-point first-half advantages before leading 38-29 at the break.

Cleveland State pulled to within 38-32 to start the second half before the Indians gradually built their huge lead. From 43-35 ahead, Southeast used a 24-13 run that ended with two Monte Gordon free throws, making it 67-48 with 7:53 to play.

But the Vikings stormed back, thanks to a 15-0 run that trimmed Southeast's lead to 67-63 with still more than five minutes to play.

A Drew DeMond layup with 5:10 remaining finally ended Southeast's scoring drought and boosted the Indians ahead 69-63.

But the Vikings would not give in and they ultimately caught up before Rogers' free throw lifted the Indians to their fourth win in five games.

"I thought we had momentum at the end, but they did a good job," said Vikings' coach Rollie Massimino. "Give them credit. They play hard and they're well coached."