INDIAN 'D' CRUSHES MOREHEAD ST.; SOUTHEAST VICTORIOUS 72-60

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Southeast Missouri State University basketball coach Gary Garner always talks about how defense is the key to winning on the road.

Taking that into account, it's easy to see why the Indians were able to post a convincing 72-60 victory over Morehead State Saturday night.

MSU entered the game averaging 77.3 points per contest to rank second in the Ohio Valley Conference. But the Indians are not the OVC's top defensive team for nothing.

The Indians totally took the Eagles out of their offense in a decisive first half that saw them lead 35-21. Southeast thus remained undefeated in OVC road games, having posted its sixth consecutive league victory away from home.

A crowd of 2,418 at Ellis T. Johnson Arena saw Southeast improve to 13-6 overall and 10-1 in OVC play as the Indians remained solidly in second place, 1 1/2 games behind 12-0 Murray State.

MSU, which lost for just the third time at home this season, fell to 8-12 overall, 5-7 in the OVC.

"I thought we just really gOt after them defensively early in the game and even when we brought guys in off the bench, our defensive intensity was just really good," said Garner. "On the road, you really have to play good defense to have a shot at winning.

"Defense has been the strength of our team all season and that's probably the main reason why we've been such a good road team."

Bud Eley paced the Indians offensively with 17 points. Also in double figures were Cory Johnson with 15, Mike Branson with 14 and Roderick Johnson with 10. Demetrius Watson had a strong game off the bench with eight points and six rebounds.

"Coach always stresses that we play good defense and that really helped us get off to a good start tonight," said C. Johnson. "We know on the road it's extra important to play well defensively."

MSU got 19 points from Brett Bohanan. Erik Brown and Brad Cleaver both added 13 points.

Eley pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds to become the school's all-time leader in that department. He now has 841 rebounds to pass the previous record of 839 set by John Sanchez from 1976-80.

Southeast dominated the boards by a 48 to 22 count.

"We came out and played good defense and that was real important," said Eley. "Coach always tells us how important that is."

The Indians never trailed in the game and had a big first half even though Eley and R. Johnson -- two of their top players -- each got two early fouls and played only 16 minutes between them in the opening half.

Southeast got major contributions -- particularly on defense -- from reserves Watson, Brian Bunche, Fred Abraham and Nathan Owen.

Watson scored six points and grabbed four rebounds in the first half while playing 14 minutes and Abraham, a freshman point guard, contributed four points and three assists in seven first-half minutes.

Bunche added two points and four rebounds in 14 first-half minutes.

"We've been getting really good play from our people off the bench, not necessarily scoring a lot of points but doing other things," Garner said. "I thought those guys came in tonight, particularly when we got in some foul trouble, and really did a good job.

"Fred Abraham really played well in the first half and Demetrius Watson had a very good game."

After neither team scored for more than 2 1/2 minutes to start the game, Branson canned a 15-footer to get the Indians started.

Southeast had trouble on offense early but suffocated MSU with its defense. The Eagles scored only four points in the first 10-plus minutes as the Indians took control.

It was 2-1 early when Eley scored four straight points, including an impressive baseline dunk over a defender.

Southeast led 6-4 when the Indians hit the Eagles with 13-0 run. C. Johnson's long 3-pointer put Southeast ahead 13-4 at the 12:14 mark and his 15-footer less than 30 seconds later made it 15-4.

Abraham hit a shot on the break to make it 17-4 and Watson's follow shot with 10:15 left in the opening 20 minutes gave the Indians a 19-4 lead.

The Indians later pushed their lead to 33-11 on Watson's follow shot with just under four minutes left before halftime.

MSU used a late run to pull within 35-21 at the intermission.

"I was a little concerned when they had that run at the end of the first half, but on the road, to be up 14 at halftime, especially with Bud and Rod not playing all that much, you have to be pleased," said Garner.

C. Johnson led the Indians with 11 first-half point while Branson matched Watson with six.

Bohanan hit a 3-pointer to start the second half as MSU pulled to within 35-24 -- the closest the Eagles had been since early in the opening half.

But with Eley and R. Johnson dominating inside as they avoided further foul trouble, the Indians weren't in much danger for very long.

C. Johnson hit a driving shot, R. Johnson dunked on the break and Eley made two free throws to quickly boost Southeast's lead back to 41-24.

After MSU pulled to within 41-27, Eley scored on two straight follow shots to make it 45-27.

With just under 16 minutes left, R. Johnson took a great pass from Branson and jammed it home as the Indians went ahead by 20 at 47-27.

Southeast opened up its biggest lead of the second half on R. Johnson's follow dunk that made it 56-34 with 12:34 left.

But the Eagles had a couple of more runs left in them, the biggest push coming when they used an 8-0 spurt to climb within 58-50 with just under eight minutes remaining.

The Indians, however, righted the ship with a 6-0 run that featured four points from Branson and two from Watson as they surged back ahead 64-50.