COURT SESSION: INDIANS JUST MISS OUT ON HUGE VICTORY

We had a disappointing 49-47 loss at Bradley Tuesday night after opening the season with a 78-35 win over Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

The Bradley game could have been a great win for us, but the final shot didn't fall and we have to live with a loss to a tradition-rich team on its home floor.

The game was a defensive struggle between two very good defensive teams, and in the end it came down to free throws. The Braves made seven of their last eight while we made just two of our final eight.

Even down 24-16 at halftime, I thought we would win the game. We were playing good defense and we knew, with some adjustments we made at the half, that we could get our offense going. We took the lead several times in the second half, but never by more than two points.

It was a tremendous effort by our team down the stretch, because two of our top players, Bud Eley and Jeramy Biles, both fouled out.

Bradley has a great player in guard Rob Dye and he scored the Braves' final eight points. He also did a great job of guarding Cory Johnson.

Nathan Owen's big 3-pointer with nine seconds left pulled us within 48-47. We called a timeout and knew we had to go for the steal and then foul quickly if we didn't get the steal.

Bradley got the ball into Dye and we fouled immediately with eight seconds left. He made the first but missed the second. Brian Bunche got the rebound and passed to Cory Johnson, who made a strong drive to the basket, but the shot that would have sent the game into overtime just rimmed out.

Eley was hampered by fouls but still played great defense. He is a tremendously improved defensive player who should cause problems for a lot of teams this season. Because of fouls, Eley played only 20 minutes, but still had nine points, seven rebounds, two blocks, two steals and two assists.

The loss puts us at 1-1 after the first two games and, although the missed opportunity at Bradley hurts, I still feel good about our team.

We have been playing great defense. After two games our opponents are averaging just 42 points per game. Playing great defense and good rebounding will give you the opportunity to win every game.

Offensively, we haven't been shooting the ball well, but with continued improvement in our halfcourt offense, our shooting will improve.

I think our depth will be an asset for us this year, and with all the foul trouble in the Bradley game, we had a lot of newcomers playing key minutes for us. That should all pay off down the line.

We have two home games coming up at the Show Me Center and, after being in a real defensive struggle at Bradley, we face two up-tempo teams in Central Methodist Friday night and Louisiana Tech Monday night.

Central Methodist is 3-2 and averaging over 90 points per game while Louisiana Tech scored over 100 points in each of its two exhibition games.

Louisiana Tech is one of the favorites to win the Sun Belt Conference and will be one of the top teams to play at the Show Me Center this season.

I hope you will be on hand for the upcoming games.

Gary Garner is the head men's basketball coach at Southeast Missouri State University