INDIANS ATTEMPT TO THWART EIU'S OVC TITLE BID

Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team has long been eliminated from Ohio Valley Conference title contention, but tonight the Indians will still have the chance to be a major player in the OVC race.

Eastern Illinois, which visits the Show Me Center for a 7:30 tipoff, needs a win to remain in solid contention for the regular-season championship.

The Indians could certainly help spoil those plans -- and continue to build momentum heading into the OVC Tournament -- by beating the Panthers.

"It's a very important game for them because they're fighting for the conference championship," said Southeast coach Gary Garner. "And it's an important game for us because we really want to get a streak going heading into the conference tournament."

EIU, 16-8 overall, is 9-4 in OVC play, which has the Panthers tied for second place with Murray State, both squads just a game behind leader Tennessee Tech.

Following tonight's game, the Panthers finish up with home dates against lower-division squads Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky, so if they can beat Southeast, they stand a good chance of winning out and putting heat on both Tennessee Tech and Murray State.

"It's going to go to the wire," said EIU coach Rick Samuels of the OVC race. "We're out of the competition with the leaders right now, but we just have to try and win and see what happens."

The Indians, 15-11 overall, are 5-8 and in a three-way tie for sixth place in the nine-team conference.

"I think Southeast Missouri is a better team than their conference record indicates," Samuels said. "They've got the last few (games) at home and they're hoping to gather momentum for the conference tournament, so this is going to be a very tough game.

"The way the conference has been this season, I don't think there's all that much difference between the top teams and the teams toward the bottom."

Garner and the Indians know that all too well because Southeast has suffered several narrow OVC losses, those setbacks a key reason why the Indians are not challenging for a second straight regular-season conference title.

Another major factor in the Indians' struggles has been their inability to win at home. Southeast is 1-4 in OVC games at the Show Me Center. Conversely, EIU is unbeaten in league home action.

In order to win tonight, the Indians will have to slow down the high-flying Panthers at least a bit. Southeast was partly effective at that during the earlier meeting between the teams on Jan. 20 in Charleston, Ill., but EIU pulled away late for an 83-71 victory.

EIU leads the OVC -- and ranks 17th nationally -- in scoring at 82 points per game.

And the Panthers boast the league's top two individual scorers in 6-foot-4 sophomore swingman Henry Domercant and 6-2 senior guard Kyle Hill, who carry averages of 23.6 and 21.9 points per game, respectively.

Domercant, the nation's second-leading scorer, is also sixth in the OVC in rebounding (7.0), sixth in field-goal percentage (50.5), second in 3-point field-goal percentage (45.3) and third in free-throw percentage (84.9), the latter figure helping EIU lead the nation from the charity stripe at 78.4 percent.

The Panthers have a third solid scorer in 6-1 senior point guard Matt Britton, who averages 13.6 points per game and is second in the OVC in assists (5.1).

"The last time we played them, we let Domercant, Hill and Britton all have good games," said Garner. "We can't have that happen if we expect to have a chance to win. We can win if two of them have good games, but not all three."

The Indians, who have posted two straight victories, close the regular season with three consecutive OVC home games. Following tonight's contest, they host Eastern Kentucky Thursday and Morehead State Saturday.