GOV RALLY FALLS PAINFULLY TO(O) SHORT; SOUTHEAST ESCAPES WITH 62-60 VICTORY

Southeast Missouri's Brian Bunche, left, grappled for a loose ball with Austin Peay's Brad Loos near the end of Saturday's game at the Show Me Center. Loos got control of the ball and called timeout.

It didn't look like it for quite a while, but Saturday afternoon's Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball game between Southeast Missouri State University and Austin Peay wound up matching all of its considerable pre-contest hype.

Austin Peay, rallying furiously from a 21-point first-half deficit, had the Show Me Center eerily quiet when Theanthony Haymon took a pass from Trenton Hassell and deposited a layup with 20 seconds left, giving the Governors a 60-59 lead.

But it didn't take long for the building to erupt. Antonio Short's three-point play in the lane with 2.5 seconds remaining was the difference as the Indians squeezed out a pulsating 62-60 victory in front of 5,133 fans.

The Indians improved to 10-2 overall as they remained atop the OVC standings at 3-0. The Governors, like Southeast expected to be a major OVC contender, fell to 7-5 overall and 1-3 in league play.

"We're very fortunate to win this game," said a relieved Southeast coach Gary Garner. "But (Austin Peay coach) Dave Loos said, and I agree, that we had a lot of courage to come back. A lot of times, when you have a big lead and the other team comes back to take the lead, it's hard to recover."

Southeast was able to recover -- but just barely.

The ultimate winning play did not even start out very well. Point guard Michael Stokes drove inside and put up a shot that Austin Peay blocked. Although it appeared that goaltending could have been called, the block was ruled to be legal.

Mike Branson was able to grab the rebound after the block and he quickly passed the ball to Short. The junior guard drove to the basket and, from a few feet inside the free-throw line and from virtually straight on, put up a shot as he was fouled. The ball bounced around the rim before falling through as the Show Me Center exploded with approval.

After a timeout, Short hit the free throw. But the Indians were not home free yet.

Mike Head threw a long baseball-style pass to Hassell, the Governors' standout swingman. Even though Branson, a 6-foot-6 forward, and 6-8 center Brian Bunche appeared to have Hassell well covered -- one or both of them even tipped the ball -- the 6-5 Hassell went high to knock it away and he eventually gained control just inside the 3-point line.

Almost as soon as Hassell corralled the basketball, he fired up a bank shot that looked like it was true, but the shot was just a bit too strong and bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

Collectively, all of Southeast's players and coaches -- along with virtually every fan in the Show Me Center save for a few Austin Peay supporters breathed a sigh of relief.

"I thought it was going in," said Stokes of Hassell's final shot.

Said Branson, "He (Hassell) outjumped us for it. But it was only a two. The worst we could have done is gone to overtime."

As for the final hero of the day, Short said he knew he had to do something fast with time running down.

"I looked at the clock and I saw there were only a few seconds left," he said. "I knew I could take my man. Thankfully, it dropped."

Although the play didn't end up like it had originally started, Garner didn't mind seeing the ball in the hands of the muscular 6-foot-2 Short as the seconds ticked off.

"Antonio made a heck of a play," Garner said. "He's capable of that. He's strong and he can take it to the hole."

Roderick Johnson paced the Indians offensively with 15 points and he also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. Short was Southeast's only other double-figure scorer with 12 points as he came off the bench to hit four of five field-goal attempts.

Branson contributed nine points while four other players had at least five points, including Emmanuel McCuthison with seven off the bench, Amory Sanders and Brian Bunche with six each and Stokes with five.

Bunche grabbed seven rebounds while Nyah Jones had six boards off the bench. Stokes dished out five assists.

Southeast hit 10 of 17 3-pointers in the game, Branson going 3-for-4, Short 2-for-2, McCuthison 2-for-3, Sanders 2-for-5 and Stokes 1-for-3.

Hassell, arguably the OVC's top player who is regarded as a solid NBA prospect although he's just a junior, scored 21 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had eight assists. Nick Stapleton added 12 points.

"Hassell is just a great, great player," said Garner. "I really though Mike Branson and Emmanuel McCuthison did a good job guarding him. I thought we did pretty well to hold him to 21 points."

Southeast came out on fire, hitting its first seven 3-point attempts, as the Indians stunned the Governors by building a 26-8 lead barely seven minutes into the game.

When Bunche drilled a jumper with 2:45 left in the first half, the Indians led 38-17 and it appeared they would post their second straight OVC home rout, having pasted Tennessee State by 33 points Thursday night.

But Austin Peay would not go down without a major fight. Hassell scored his team's final eight points of the opening half, although Southeast still led 40-25 at the break, thanks in large part to 9-for-12 3-point shooting.

Austin Peay cut into its deficit early in the second half, but the Indians still led 49-39 after a Jones basket with 13:07 remaining.

The Indians, however, would then endure a scoreless drought of more than six minutes that was aided by a barrage of turnovers.

At one point, the Indians -- unable to handle Austin Peay's full-court pressure -- had turnovers on seven straight possessions, never able to even get off a shot during that stretch.

The Governors capped an 11-0 run on Stapleton's basket and free throw with 7:38 left to go ahead 50-49.

The lead changed hands seven times the rest of the way. Southeast was able to go up by four points but could not put the Governors away.

"Once they got back to a one or two point game, we knew it would be a last-second deal," said Garner. "We didn't play real smart in the second half and we didn't handle the press well. We had 21 turnovers (in the game) and that's been our Achilles' heel.

"But you have to give Austin Peay credit. They're a very good basketball team. It's easy to fold on the road but they didn't."

Said Short, "We lost our intensity and it's hard to get it back."

Johnson's short bank shot with 45 seconds left put Southeast ahead 59-58, but Hassell found Haymon for the layup that put Austin Peay back on top 60-59 with 20 seconds left, setting the stage for the wild finish.

"I'm proud of the guys. We played terrific in the second half, especially from an effort standpoint," said Austin Peay coach Dave Loos. "If we had done that in the first half, who knows what happens. But you have to give SEMO credit. They're really good."

The Indians were both good and fortunate Saturday, but Johnson wasn't about complain.

"It got way too close," he said with a smile. "But we're 3-0 (in the OVC). It feels good."

Southeast visits Middle Tennessee Monday night.