Fast, furious, dramatic

Southeast Missouri State's first home victory under Scott Edgar certainly did not come easily.

But when you take over a program that won just seven games all last season, style points probably aren't necessary -- at least not right now.

So Edgar and the Redhawks were more than happy to savor a 78-75 triumph over California-Riverside in their home opener witnessed by 2,843 fans at the Show Me Center Friday night.

"We found a way to win," said Edgar, Southeast's first-year coach. "When all the dust settles, there is only one stat and that's it."

Said junior center Mike Rembert: "We got a win. That's the most important stat. It doesn't matter how we did it. We'll take all of them this way."

Southeast coach Scott Edgar spoke to his players during a timeout Friday night. The Redhawks won in Edgar's home debut.

The Redhawks improved to 2-3 with their second consecutive three-point victory, including Sunday's triumph at Division II Alaska-Fairbanks in the Top of the World Classic.

"When you win games like this, you should grow in confidence," Edgar said. "I really think the win in Alaska helped us tonight."

The Redhawks led most of the game against UC-Riverside (3-4), which beat Southeast 69-61 last year in California in a game set up by the ESPN BracketBuster series.

But Southeast never could shake the pesky Highlanders and the Redhawks had to survive a frantic finish to prevail.

Junior swingman David Johnson's steal and dunk with 1 minute, 10 seconds remaining put Southeast ahead 73-68, and Johnson's follow layup with 42 seconds left for a 75-68 lead appeared to ice things.

Freshman Roderick Pearson brought the ball down the court for Southeast in Friday's game.

The Highlanders, however, stormed back -- with plenty of help from the Redhawks.

Rembert missed two free throws with 35 seconds left, and UC-Riverside sharp-shooting guard Justin Bell drilled a 3-pointer 10 seconds later to make it 75-71.

After a Southeast turnover, Larry Cunningham -- UC-Riverside's other sharp-shooting guard -- nailed a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left.

All of a sudden Southeast's advantage was down to 75-74.

"They hit some big shots," Southeast senior guard Terrick Willoughby said.

With 14 seconds remaining, Southeast freshman guard Roderick Pearson hit two free throws to put the Redhawks up by three points.

Bell was able to get free for an open 3-pointer with 7 seconds left. It was off the mark, but the ball went out of bounds off of the Redhawks, so the Highlanders retained possession.

With 4 seconds left, Bell was fouled by Pearson on a 3-point attempt, and he went to the line for three free throws.

Bell made the first shot, but after a Southeast timeout, he missed the second. He intentionally missed the third, but it did not hit the rim, so Southeast gained possession.

Pearson was immediately fouled, and it was ruled intentional, meaning he received two free throws and the Redhawks maintained possession.

Pearson made one of two for a 78-75 advantage. The Redhawks were able to inbound the ball and run out the clock.

"It was an exciting way to win," Edgar said. "If we could have played a little smarter down the stretch, we could have maybe gotten out of here with a double-digit win.

"But it's a learning experience, a growing experience."

Southeast received contributions from a host of players, and five Redhawks wound up scoring in double figures.

Rembert led the way with 15 points and nine rebounds. He had 10 first-half points.

Willoughby finished with 14 points, 12 coming in the opening period when he made four of five 3-pointers.

"I felt pretty good early," said Willoughby, who did not attempt a 3-pointer in the second half.

Junior forward Brandon Foust had 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Johnson added 10 points, as did Pearson, who helped spark the Redhawks over the final 10 minutes, when he scored all of his points and wreaked plenty of havoc defensively with his quickness.

"Rod is really starting to play well," Edgar said. "He and Paul [Paradoski] just compliment each other."

Paradoski, Southeast's starting junior point guard, had seven assists, two steals and no turnovers in 22 minutes. Pearson added two assists and two steals to go along with his 10 points in 21 minutes. He had three turnovers.

"The beauty of it is, I got 40 minutes of good, solid point guard play," Edgar said.

Freshman forward Jajuan Maxwell also continued his strong play off the bench with eight points in 12 minutes.

"Those guys [Pearson and Maxwell] are really playing well for us," Edgar said. "They were also real big in our win over Alaska."

Southeast shot a season-high 50 percent from the field and made 10 of 24 3-pointers for 41.7 percent.

But UC-Riverside drilled 14 of 29 3-pointers to stay within striking distance most of the way. Bell (18 points) and Cunningham (21) were a combined 11 of 18 from long range. The Highlanders also held a 44-35 rebounding advantage.

"I felt we stepped up and defended them better in the second half," Foust said.

The Redhawks led by 10 points twice in a fast-paced first half that ended with Southeast up 48-45.

UC-Riverside took its only lead of the game at 56-54 on a Cunningham 3-pointer with 12:48 left in the second half.

Southeast came right back with a 7-0 run to go up 61-56 and the Redhawks never trailed again, but they never led by more than seven points.

"It was a hard-fought game," Foust said. "The main thing is we won."