DUET IN NASHVILLE: INDIANS DECK EIU 78-57, REACH SEMIS

Don't be surprised if the Eastern Illinois basketball team has nightmares of Southeast Missouri State University's Indians this offseason.

Southeast dismantled EIU in three games this season by an average victory margin of 18 points.

And the Indians rudely ended the Panthers' year Tuesday night with a 78-57 blowout in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

A smaller-than-anticipated crowd of 4,599 at the Show Me Center saw the Indians improve to 19-8 as they won their first OVC tourney game ever.

Second-seeded Southeast moves on to the tournament semifinals in Nashville, Tenn., where the Indians will meet third-seeded Middle Tennessee at 7 p.m. Saturday.

EIU, the seventh seed, ends its season at 13-16.

After Southeast had bombed EIU by 22 points in Saturday's regular-season finale, coach Gary Garner dreaded a rematch with the Panthers, fearing the Indians might think things would be easy again.

Garner needn't have worried. And things were even easier this time as the final score doesn't even indicate how one-sided the game was.

"I really can't be more satisfied with the way we played tonight," said Garner, whose squad will carry a four-game winning streak to Nashville. "From the opening buzzer to the end, we had total control. We didn't really take control the other night until the second half.

"From the beginning to the end, it was probably our most consistent game of the year."

The Indians ended any upset hopes the Panthers might have had right off the bat. Southeast scored the game's first 11 points, saw EIU pull to within 13-10, then used an 11-2 run to pull away.

It was 35-17 at halftime and the Indians led 67-36 when Garner was able to start clearing his bench with well over five minutes to play.

EIU had only 40 points with under five minutes left when the Panthers put on a late spurt to make the final score a bit less lopsided.

"Our defense was super strong. At the start of the game, our defense just really dominated," Garner said. "They wound up with 57 points, but they only had 40 until we really started subbing. And I think that's a good basketball team."

Bud Eley, playing the final home game of his brilliant Southeast career, scored 17 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and blocked three shots as he recorded his 17th game of double-figure points and rebounds this season.

"Bud had a great game," said Garner. "He just dominated."

Eley even attempted his first two 3-pointers of the season when he let fly with a pair of long shots just before going to the bench with 5:15 left. Both missed, one just barely.

"I asked coach if I could shoot one if we went up real big," said a smiling Eley. "I thought I had the second one."

The 6-foot-10 Eley was regarded as a possible NBA draft pick last summer but he opted to return to Southeast for his senior season. He's certainly glad had did.

"Coming back has been great," he said. "I know it's made me a better player and it's been a great year for the team.

"We've been looking forward to playing in Nashville and our fans have contributed a lot to our success. Even when we're on the road, we always have fans cheering for us."

Mike Branson scored 17 points, 13 coming in the first half. He hit eight of 11 shots from the field.

"The underclassmen really wanted to do it for the seniors," said Branson, a junior. "Our goal all season was to get to Nashville and now we want to see what we can do there."

Junior Roderick Johnson added 15 points and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.

EIU got 20 points from Kyle Hill, its sophomore standout. John Smith added 11 points.

But the Indians' suffocating defense never let the Panthers get untracked. They shot just 29 percent in the first half when the game was pretty much decided.

How fun were things for the Indians? In addition to Eley firing up those 3-pointers, walkons Matt Morris and Ryan Thomas combined for seven points after they had just scored just 12 total points all season. Thomas, who entered the game with three points, scored four.

Morris even had one of the game's highlight plays when he was hammered attempting a long 3-pointer in the closing moments. The shot fell as Morris landed on his backside. Unfortunately, the free throw was off the mark.

"Those guys work just as hard in practice as everybody else," said Garner. "It's nice when they get rewarded with some decent playing time."

As the final seconds clicked off the clock, a chant of `Nashville, Nashville' rang down from the stands.

"It's great to be going there," said Cory Johnson, one of the Indians' four seniors. "We know we're one of the best teams (in the OVC) and we know we have a shot (to win the tournament)."

OVC Tournament

Tuesday's Results

First Round

(Seeds in parentheses)

MEN

(1) Murray St. 96, (8) Tenn. Tech 61

(2) SE MISSOURI 78, (7) Eastern Ill. 57

(3) Middle Tenn. 75, (6) Tenn. St. 68

(5) Morehead St. 82, (4) Austin Peay 77

WOMEN

(1) Tenn. Tech 74, (8) Austin Peay 60

(7) Tenn. St. 82, (2) Middle Tenn. 79

(3) Tenn.-Martin 102, (6) Eastern Ky. 87

(4) SE MISSOURI 66, (5) Murray St. 60

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Saturday's Games

Semifinals

(At Nashville Arena)

MEN

Murray St. vs. Morehead St. 5 p.m.

SE MISSOURI vs. Middle Tenn., 7 p.m.

WOMEN

Tenn. Tech vs. SE MISSOURI, 11 a.m.

Tenn.-Martin vs. Tenn. St., 1 p.m.

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Sunday's Game

Championship

(At Nashville Arena)

MEN

1:30 p.m. (ESPN)

WOMEN

4:30 p.m. (Fox Sports South)