COURT SESSION: INJURY-RIDDLED INDIANS FACE TWO BIG GAMES

It was a disappointing week with an overtime loss to Eastern Illinois Saturday night and the news later Saturday night that Bud Eley had a stress fracture in his left foot.

The bad news continued Monday when we learned that Demetrius Watson also has a broken bone in his foot and will be lost from two to four weeks.

I really feel for Bud. I know he was looking forward to an outstanding season but he has been frustrated by injuries. First, he broke a bone in his right foot in December and then, after coming back to play in four more games after missing seven, he suffers a stress fracture in his other foot.

Demetrius has been our most consistent player this season. I'm very pleased with his play because he is getting the most out of his ability and that is all you can ask. We will miss his steady play.

Having Eley and Watson out of the lineup means everybody really has to step up a notch, particularly in rebounding. We had some good games, including a road win at Morehead, with Bud out of the lineup, so we can still play some good basketball. The injuries provide opportunities for other players to show what they can do.

David Montgomery will now work entirely at the post position and Travis Smith and William Lucas will have to give us some quality minutes at the post. Nathan Owen will have to move to the forward spot where Watson had been playing. It is tough to lose Bud and Demetrius, but this is a team game and we have to find a way to win without them.

The Eastern Illinois game was one we could have won. Calvert White and Nathan Owen did an outstanding job defending Rick Kaye, the OVC's top scorer. Kaye was only two of 15 from the field and had only 14 points. We held the Panthers to just 38 percent shooting, but Eastern still got the win.

Eastern got the win by getting to the free-throw line and converting 27 of 31, including 21 of 22 in the second half and overtime while we were hitting eight of 10. Many of their free throws came on second shots when they got the offensive rebound and got to the line after being fouled.

The fact we have lost four overtime games in the OVC does wear on you. As Saturday night's game went to overtime, I thought to myself: we're not going to lose this game. I should have been thinking: we're going to win this game.

This week we have two more games at the Show Me Center with Morehead State on Thursday night and Eastern Kentucky on Saturday night. These are winnable games that we need to keep any hope alive of gaining a first-round OVC Tournament home game.

We beat Morehead State 64-61 on the road earlier but lost at Eastern Kentucky 82-79 in double overtime. Both teams outrebounded us badly and we'll have to do a better job on the boards.

We had a great crowd Saturday. The students really got into the game and that is very important to our program. It's good to see a couple of groups of students trying to do something to enhance the atmosphere.

I hope everybody comes back this week and I hope we can give you a couple of victories. You fans deserve it.

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