GARNER LEADS SE TO SECOND PLACE

Gary Garner has an impressive resume as a college basketball coach, even earning national accolades for his work at Division II Fort Hays State.

But Garner ranks the 1998-99 Ohio Valley Conference Co-Coach of the Year award he received Friday right up there at the top of his personal list.

"This definitely ranks right up there with any kind of honor I've ever gotten," said Garner.

But Garner is quick to point out that the award is not really his alone. Instead, it belongs to the entire Southeast basketball "family," as he likes to refer to his program.

"We really are a family and that's one of the reasons we've been so successful this year," Garner said. "This award is a reflection of what everybody in our program has done -- our assistants and mainly our players."

In only his second year as the Indians' head coach, Garner led Southeast to its best-ever Division I season since the school made the move up from the Division II level eight years ago.

Picked fifth out of 10 teams in the OVC's preseason poll, the Indians finished a strong second and challenged champion Murray State the entire season, finishing just a game behind the Racers.

"I expected Murray State to be something like 16-2 or 15-3 (the Racers finished league play at 16-2)," said Garner. "I expected the rest of the league would be a dogfight, with us having a shot at finishing second.

"But no, I don't think I expected us to be 15-3. And we were 8-1 on the road in league play, which is tremendous, even better than Murray State.

"But our guys did a great job all season of taking one game at a time."

A former All-Big Eight Conference player at Missouri, Garner began his college coaching career in 1967. He had success at Drake and led Fort Hays to a Division II national championship.

When the Southeast coaching post opened up after the 1996-97 season, Garner jumped at the opportunity to try and build the Indians' program back to a strong level.

Southeast made strides last year, finishing one game above .500. And then came this breakthrough season.

"I just feel really good about the team, the program and where we're headed," he said. "I just love being at Southeast Missouri State and I think the future of our basketball program is extremely bright."

INDIAN RESULTS AND LEADERS

Date, time, opponent, score, w/l attend, high points, high rebounds

11/14/98 SIU-Edwardsville 78-35 W 5,133 14, Mike Branson 8, Demetrius Watson

11/17/98 at Bradley University 47-49 L 8,465 9, Roderick Johnson 9, Mike Branson 9 William "Bud" Eley 7, William "Bud" Eley

11/20/98 Central Methodist, 84-65 W 4,327 17, William "Bud" Eley 13, William "Bud" Eley

11/23/98 Louisiana Tech 72-84 4,573 22, William "Bud" Eley 9, William "Bud" Eley

12/03/98 at Austin Peay 74-65 W 2,712 20, Cory Johnson 6, Cory Johnson

12/05/98 at Tennessee State 70-49 W 1,054 19, William "Bud" Eley 11 William "Bud" Eley

12/08/98 at Arkansas State 76-75 W. 6,433 17, Mike Branson 8 Roderick Johnson

12/10/98 Eastern Kentucky 78-58 W. 4,626 18, Roderick Johnson 10, Roderick Johnson

12/22/98 at Southwest Missouri State 56-67 L 6,584 13, William "Bud" Eley 21 William "Bud" Eley

12/28/98 SIU-Carbondale in St. Louis 49-70 L. 22,159 13 William "Bud" Eley 11 William "Bud" Eley

12/30/98 at Oklahoma State 64-75 L 6,381 18, Cory Johnson 12, William "Bud" Eley

1/04/99 Morehead State 71-69 W 3,946 24, William "Bud" Eley, 14, William "Bud" Eley

1/07/99 at Middle Tennessee 73-63 W 4,237 18, Kahn Cotton 11, William "Bud" Eley

1/09/99 at Tennessee Tech 64-51 W. 3,400 14, Cory Johnson 10, Mike Branson

1/12/99 Austin Peay 87-71 W 4,534 18, William "Bud" Eley 14, William "Bud" Eley

1/14/99 Murray State 70-71 L 7,156 15, Mike Branson 10, Roderick Johnson

1/16/99 Tennessee-Martin 84-75 W OT 5,330 23, Roderick Johnson 12 William "Bud" Eley

1/23/99 at Eastern Illinois 81-70 W 4,364 19, William "Bud" Eley 14, William "Bud" Eley

1/30/98 at Morehead State 72-60 W 2,418 17, William "Bud" Eley 12, William "Bud" Eley

2/02/99 Tennessee State 61-54 W 4,837 19, William "Bud" Eley 12, William "Bud" Eley

2/04/99 Middle Tennessee 69-55 W 5,817 23, William "Bud" Eley 10, William "Bud" Eley

2/06/99 Tennessee Tech 62-68 L 6,333 22, Roderick Johnson 10, Roderick Johnson

2/11/99 at Murray State 52-62 L 8,602 15, Roderick Johnson 11, William "Bud" Eley

2/13/99 at Tennessee-Martin 60-49 W 2,731 17, Roderick Johnson 14, William "Bud" Eley

2/16/99 at Eastern Kentucky 77-61 W 1,350 15, William "Bud" Eley 16, William "Bud" Eley

2/20/99 Eastern Illinois 92-70 W 6,434 17, Cory Johnson 17, William "Bud Eley 9, William "Bud" Eley

2/23/99 Eastern Illinois 78-57 W 4,599 17, Mike Branson 17, William "Bud" Eley 13, Roderick Johnson

Indian Team Highs

Points 92 vs. Eastern Illinois 2/20/99

Field goals made 33 vs. Central Methodist 11/20/98

Field goal attempts 69 vs. Central Methodist 11/20/98

Field goal percentage .574 vs. Eastern Illinois 2/20/98

3-point field goals made 11 vs. Tennessee-Martin 1/16/99

3-point field goal attempts 28 vs. Tennessee-Martin 1/16/99

3-point field goal percentage .545 at Arkansas State 12/08/99

Free throws made 26 at Arkansas State 12/08/99

Free throw attempts 34 vs. Eastern Illinois 2/20/99

Free throw percentage .923 vs. Eastern Kentucky 12/10/98

Rebounds 54 vs. Central Methodist 11/20/98

Assists 21 vs. Austin Peay 1/12/99

Steals 14 vs. Eastern Illinois 2/23/99

Blocked shots 14 vs. Morehead State 1/04/99

Turnovers 31 at Arkansas State 12/08/98

Fouls 28 at Southwest Missouri 12/22/98