COLLEGE BASKETBALL: JORDAN RULES IN SE's 83-77 LOSS TO DEVILS

ITTA BENA, Miss. -- Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball coach Gary Garner was anxious to see how his team would respond to its first true road game of the season Wednesday night.

Rest assured Garner didn't like what he saw.

The Indians fell into an early hole and, despite a furious late comeback, never could climb out of it as Mississippi Valley State posted an 83-77 victory at Harrison Arena.

The Indians, who had played three games on a neutral floor last weekend during the Energia Systems Tournament in Kansas City, fell to 4-2. The Delta Devils improved to 2-2 after their second straight win.

"I've always said just how tough it is to win on the road in college basketball," said Garner. "I knew this would be a really hard game for us, especially if we didn't play well.

"It's a very disappointing loss. We just did not have the intensity it takes to win on the road. I don't care who you play, if you don't have that intensity, you're not going to win."

Asked whether playing their fourth game in six days had a major effect on the Indians, Garner said, "No, I don't think we were tired. I don't think that had anything to do with it."

Henry Jordan was the man primarily responsible for the Indians' demise Wednesday. The nimble 6-foot-10 center scored on a variety of moves around the basket and mid-range jumpers, hitting 14 of 21 shots for a game-high 33 points, 21 coming in the second half. He also blocked six shots.

"When you let Jordan get 33 points, and he's averaging 13, it's hard to win," Garner said. "But he had a great game."

MVSU coach Lafayette Stribling was elated with the performance of Jordan, saying, "Henry has a lot of talent. He had a great game. We needed him tonight. It's a good win for us, beating a basketball team like Southeast Missouri that was in the NCAA Tournament last year."

Also scoring in double figures for MVSU was Dewaye Jefferson with 18 points. Jefferson also had a game-high 10 rebounds while Jordan added nine.

The Indians were led by Antonio Short with 22 points. Also in double figures were Michael Stokes (11), Amory Sanders (11) and Emmanuel McCuthison (10).

Southeast was hurt by a 19-for-30 performance from the free-throw line, which included Drew DeMond making just two of eight.

MVSU hit 18 of 26 from the charity stripe, including most of the important ones toward the end of the game.

Southeast suffered from a rough start as the Indians held only one first-half lead, that coming on an early 3-pointer by McCuthison that put his squad up 3-2.

There were ties at 4-4 and 6-6 before the Delta Devils began to pull away. They led only 12-11, but an 8-0 run gave them a 20-11 advantage midway through the opening period and had Garner up off the bench asking for a timeout.

Terry Rogers scored four quick points off the bench as the Indians pulled to within 20-15, but Jefferson's 3-pointer capped an 11-4 run that gave MVSU a 31-19 lead with just over four minutes left.

Ashley Robinson's basket with 2:40 remaining before halftime gave the Delta Devils their biggest lead of the period at 33-20.

MVSU also led by 13 at 34-21, but Southeast closed the half with a 6-0 run, getting a Stokes basket in the lane just before the buzzer to enter the intermission down just 34-27.

The Indians could not do anything to slice into MVSU's lead over the first 10 minutes of the second half, getting no closer than their original seven-point halftime deficit and falling behind 47-34 on a Jefferson 3-pointer with just over 13 minutes left.

Then Southeast finally got something going, thanks in large part to a technical foul called on the Delta Devils with just over eight minutes remaining. Sanders made both free throws on the technical, then drilled a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession as the Indians pulled to within 51-47. It was the closest they had been since early in the game.

Southeast had a chance to get even closer than four points, but the Indians missed a shot. Jordan then scored four straight points to boost MVSU's lead back to 55-47.

A Robinson 3-pointer with 4:40 to play restored a double-digit lead for the Delta Devils at 62-51, but the Indians still had some life left in them, pulling to within 65-60 on a Stokes drive with 2:48 left.

The Indians were also within five at 67-62, but Jordan responded again with a basket and free throw, putting MVSU up 70-62 with two minutes to go.

Southeast got to within five one more time at 70-65 on a Short basket with 1:40 left, but the Delta Devils scored four straight points for a 74-65 lead.

Short nailed a 3-pointer with 50 seconds remaining to make it 74-68. After three MVSU free throws, another Short 3-pointer at the 33-second mark made it 77-71. Then, after two more free throws, yet another Short trey got the Indians to within 79-74 with 19 seconds left.

A Joel Shelton 3-pointer with 11 seconds left made it 81-77, and Shelton got a steal in the closing seconds, but the Indians could not convert as MVSU scored an insurance bucket to win by six.