Flat start proves costly for Southeast men

Southeast Missouri State forward Cameron Butler was direct and thorough in his postgame assessment of his team's performance against Eastern Kentucky on Saturday.

"We always say, 'Throw the first punch,'" Butler said.

Instead it was the Redhawks who took the early blows on their way to a 64-52 loss on their home floor.

Southeast fell behind 12-2 to start the game and held the lead for just 32 seconds in the game -- when Leon Powell made a shot in the paint late in the second half.

"Last year that was our problem the whole year, playing from behind," said Butler, with equal parts frustration and determination. "We can't do that, especially in front of our home crowd. I mean, they come out here to support us. We need to put on a show. We've got to stop doing that. We've got to do something different in our warmup or something. We've got to stop coming out dead. We've got to come out with some energy."

Southeast Missouri State senior Cameron Butler drives to the basket during the first half Saturday. (Laura Simon)

Southeast narrowed the gap to three at halftime but continued to trail until Powell's basket with 6 minutes, 44 seconds to go.

"We usually are a better second-half team once we get chewed out," Butler said. "We know that we're more than capable. We've just got to go out there and do it, so at halftime we knew that it was time to play, but it's too late. You can't go into halftime and have the same pep talk over and over and over and over. Something's going to have to give."

The loss dropped the Redhawks' record to 5-13 overall and 4-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

"Just overall, I just felt like for whatever reason we were a half step slow with everything that we did," Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said. "We didn't have that sense of urgency. We dug a hole and then finally we got a little energy in the second half."

Southeast was outscored 18-5 after taking the lead.

Southeast Missouri State junior Marcus Brister maneuvers past Eastern Kentucky defender Joshua Jones during the first half Saturday.

"We had a little momentum when we tied the game up and took a one-point lead," Butler said. "It was like OK, we good now. We have to keep playing and finish the game."

The Colonels (9-9, 4-4 in the OVC) shot 45 percent in the game and 50 percent from the field after halftime. While both numbers were not to Nutt's liking, he pointed to the offensive end as the more troublesome side.

"We scored 52 points," Nutt said. "That's our problem. We couldn't really score. We had a hard time scoring the ball. It was like pulling teeth. When we would make a shot, it was kind of a miracle for us today."

Southeast shot 43 percent from the floor, but the Redhawks' guards made just nine of the 27 shots.

"It went back to my opinion the guard play," Nutt said. "We've got to hit some shots. When we hit some shots, we're a little better. But when your guards are going 2 for 8, 3 for 8 -- last game 4 for 15 -- it's just guard play. I'm not putting the blame on any one person. As a whole, just the toughness is not there."

Eastern Kentucky senior Josh Daniel -- whom Colonels coach Jeff Neubauer said played the game of his life -- scored all 19 of his points after halftime, including six in a row after the Redhawks grabbed the lead on back-to-back conventional three-point plays.

"That's what killed us," Butler said. "At that time, you have to knuckle up and say they're not going to score on us. Put your wall up and defend. That's what good teams do. They get stops when it's most needed. That's what we have to do. We can't be satisfied with coming back."