Indians' backs against the wall

Any way you slice it, Southeast Missouri State University's Indians are off to a dismal start to their Ohio Valley Conference season after losing home games Thursday and Saturday.

But the Indians -- particularly coach Gary Garner --were surprisingly upbeat following Saturday's 71-69 setback to Tennessee Tech. Garner believes Southeast (7-6, 0-2 in OVC) will be primed to notch its first OVC win when it visits Eastern Illinois (3-9, 1-1) tonight for a 7:35 p.m. tipoff in Charleston, Ill.

Garner was down in the dumps after Thursday's OVC opener, a 52-48 loss to Austin Peay in which the Indians fell behind 22-7 late in the first half and never could catch up, although they pulled to within two points in the closing seconds.

However, Garner thought the Indians played well Saturday as they led by 10 points at halftime, fell behind by 14 points with under four minutes left and then used a 14-0 run to tie the contest before Tech hit the winning basket with 0.6 seconds remaining.

"I can stomach this one a lot better," Garner said. "I told the team after the game that we're 0-2 in the conference, but look how close we are to being 2-0.

"Now, we can't feel sorry for ourselves, but if we take the right approach...we let two get away at home, but we have 14 conference games left. In no way am I giving up on this team. In fact, my confidence is even higher now that we can be a good team. We just have to really hang in there."

Said junior guard Derek Winans, who scored 18 points Saturday and hit a tying 3-pointer with 23 seconds left, "We definitely need a win. We went 0-2 at home to start the conference and a lot of people are counting us out for the conference, but we just have to stay together. I still think we've got a really good team."

Eastern Illinois tied for fourth in the OVC last year, but the Panthers struggled early this season after losing standout Henry Domercant, one of the nation's leading scorers who averaged 27.9 points per game as a senior.

The Panthers' only two wins were over non-Division I teams before they opened OVC play by beating Tennessee Tech 83-70 Thursday night. Saturday night, they gave defending champion and preseason favorite Austin Peay a battle before falling 60-53. Tonight will mark the Panthers' third of four straight home games to start the league schedule.

"They've really been playing a lot better lately and they're always so tough at home," Garner said. "It's going to be a big challenge for us, but I think we're going to go in there with the right kind of attitude, that we're going to win this game."

Eastern Illinois coach Rick Samuels said the Panthers struggled early trying to work seven new players into the rotation, but they have played better in recent games.

The Panthers, a perimeter-oriented team, feature two double-figure scorers in 6-foot-3 sophomore guard Josh Gomes (11.5 ppg) and 5-10 junior guard Jason Wright (10 ppg). Gomes scored 38 points in the Panthers' first two OVC games.

"They're playing nine or 10 players and they have good athletes on the perimeter," Garner said.

Garner shuffled his lineup Saturday, inserting three new starters -- forward Damarcus Hence, guard Brett Hale and point guard Terrick Willoughby -- and giving talented but inconsistent forward Reggie Golson extensive playing time. Golson responded by hitting five of six shots and scoring 10 points while Hence had nine points. Garner said at least Hence will likely start again tonight.

"I was really pleased with Damarcus' effort more than anything. He gave a great effort," Garner said. "He's such a good athlete, if he keeps doing that, he'll be hard to keep off the floor."