Colonels pull rank on Indians

Eastern Kentucky breaks Southeast's spell with 79-75 victory.

By Marty Mishow ~ Southeast Missourian

A lengthy scoreless drought late -- coupled with some clutch play by Eastern Kentucky -- led to without a doubt Southeast Missouri State University's most disappointing loss of the season.

The Indians went more than six minutes without a point down the stretch Saturday night as the Colonels rallied for a stunning 79-75 victory in front of an announced crowd of 4,903 at the Show Me Center.

Southeast, suffering its third straight defeat, fell to 9-14 overall and 4-7 in Ohio Valley Conference play.

EKU, which lost by 16 points to Southeast earlier this season in Richmond, Ky., and had dropped 10 straight to the Indians, improved to 9-12 and 3-7.

"This is the most disappointing loss of the season without question because this is one we feel like we should have won," Southeast coach Gary Garner said.

The Indians led by 10 points early in the second half and they were still ahead 71-65 after a Derek Winans basket with 6:39 to play.

But Southeast's next points didn't come until the 1:26 mark as Brandon Griffin scored a layup to tie the contest at 73-73.

EKU's Shawn Fields hit two free throws with one minute remaining to put the Colonels up 75-73 and Southeast never again caught up.

"They just wanted it more than we did, that's what it boiled down to," Winans said.

Fields, a senior guard, had his second straight monster game. After scoring 35 points during Thursday's loss at Eastern Illinois, the Georgia transfer in his second season with the Colonels poured in 32 more Saturday. Fields hit 15 of 17 free throws as he was consistently fouled on strong drives to the basket. He also made eight of 13 from the field.

"He's a really talented player, very strong, and he can take a game over," Garner said.

Freshman guard Matt Witt added 20 points for the Colonels, including two huge baskets in the closing moments. Witt hit eight of 14 from the field, including four of five 3-pointers.

"Shawn has been playing great and Matt had a really good game. He made some big shots at the end," EKU coach Travis Ford said. "Any win for us is good and winning on the road is even better.

"I'm proud of the way we responded after getting annihilated by SEMO at our place, and after falling behind by 10 points in the second half tonight. I told my team before the game I'm 0-5 against SEMO and it would be nice to get one."

Senior forward Tim Scheer hit nine of 10 shots, including four of five 3-pointers, and led the Indians with 25 points.

Griffin, a junior center, had his 11th double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. He made six of seven shots.

Winans, a sophomore guard, scored 12 points and sophomore guard Brett Hale added 10.

Sophomore point guard Kevin Roberts dished out seven assists and also scored a career-high eight points. He made all three of his field-goal attempts, every one of them a layup early in the game.

Hale, Southeast's most consistent performer in recent games as he had averaged 21.5 points over the last three outings, suffered a hip injury early in the second half and did not return.

Without Hale, Southeast's thin roster was taxed even further, especially considering the Indians were playing their fifth game in 10 days.

"We just ran out of gas when Brett got hurt," Garner said.

But Winans was not in the mood for excuses.

"It would have helped to have Brett, but there are no excuses," he said. "They just wanted it more and they took it from us."

Southeast was hurt by 18 turnovers, 12 coming in the second half. And the Indians hit just 19 of 30 free throws, compared to 22 of 30 for the Colonels.

The Indians shot 56.5 percent (26 of 46) but were just four of 13 from 3-point range -- and nobody but Scheer made a 3-pointer. EKU shot 52 percent (26 of 50) and hit five of nine 3-pointers.

There were several lead changes early before Scheer's 3-pointer with 13:05 left in the first half put Southeast up 20-18. The Indians would not lose the lead until the late going.

Southeast, ahead 44-36 at halftime, opened up a 46-36 advantage early in the final period but could never shake the pesky Colonels.

Ahead 65-57 with just over 10 minutes remaining, the Indians' offense began to bog down and a while later they hit their long scoreless drought.

Fields made two free throws with 2:34 left for a 71-71 tie and Witt's driving shot with 1:42 remaining put the Colonels up 73-71 for their first lead since early in the contest.

After Griffin's layup tied things at the 1:26 mark, Fields' two free throws with one minute left put EKU ahead for good at 75-73.

After Winans had a 3-pointer rim out with 46 seconds left, EKU ran the shot clock down and Witt made a tough bank in traffic with 18 seconds left for a 77-73 lead.

Winans hit two free throws with nine seconds left to pull Southeast within 77-75, but Fields' two foul shots a second later iced the victory.

"We just stopped running our offense and they got us out of our game," Roberts said. "Now we just have to put this game behind us and regroup."