INDIANS BREAK CAMELS' BACK

Southeast Missouri State University senior guard Antonio Short said the reason the Indians began Wednesday night's game against Campbell with so much focus and intensity was simple.

"We get to go home for like three days, so we had some energy in us," said a grinning Short. "We wanted to make sure coach wasn't mad at us before we went home."

Mission accomplished. There was no way Southeast coach Gary Garner could be upset with the Indians after they took control right from the start and coasted to an 81-54 victory in front of 4,695 fans at the Show Me Center.

The Indians, whose next action will be Dec. 27 in the Texas-El Paso Tournament, improved to 7-3 as they closed out a four-game homestand with three victories.

Campbell, which competes in the Trans America Conference and is located in North Carolina, fell to 3-6.

Garner was a bit concerned that the Indians might overlook the Fighting Camels, especially since Southeast's previous three games had all not been decided until the final buzzer.

"One of the things I was really pleased about is the way we started the game," Garner said. "I was worried about us being really ready, coming off three hard games. But we never had any kind of letdown.

"We never really talked about Campbell that much (during practice earlier in the week). We talked about how we could play, and the kind of intensity we could have."

Garner might not have talked about Campbell all that much in practice, but he did mention an earlier game in which the Indians were solid favorites but stubbed their toes.

"He brought up Mississippi Valley (a team that upset the Indians on Nov. 29)," said Southeast senior point guard Michael Stokes, who dished out a career-high 10 assists. "We know we can't take any more teams lightly. We wanted to jump on them early."

Southeast certainly did that. Campbell scored the game's first basket, but the Indians hit the Camels with a 12-0 run and about the only suspense left was how lopsided the final margin would be.

The Indians bolted out to a 20-5 lead and carried a 46-27 advantage into halftime, thanks in large part to Short's 17 first-half points. Short did not miss a shot over the opening 20 minutes, hitting all five of his field-goal attempts -- four of them 3-pointers -- and tacking on three free throws.

"I hit my first two or three shots and I was feeling it," said Short.

Senior forward Emmanuel McCuthison added 13 first-half points as the Indians blistered the nets for 61-percent shooting (17 of 28) in the opening period.

Southeast went up by 23 points right away in the second half and Garner had the luxury of clearing his bench early and often as Campbell never cut the deficit to under 17 points. The final score was the Indians' biggest lead of the night.

McCuthison wound up leading the Indians with 20 points and he also pulled down a game-high seven rebounds.

Short did not score in the second half as he finished with 17. Stokes added 11 points and senior center Nyah Jones had 10, including a pair of impressive dunks, one off a long lob pass from Stokes and one off a strong baseline move.

Redshirt freshman forward Damarcus Hence, who has played very little this year, scored nine points -- all in the second half -- as he easily surpassed his previous high of three.

Sophomore forward Tim Scheer, making his second straight start, scored a season-high six points while sophomore forward Daniel Weaver had some impressive minutes for the second straight game. He scored five points and grabbed six rebounds as the Indians controlled the boards 37-27.

True freshman point guard Joel Shelton -- who backs up Stokes -- dished out five assists and added three points.

"Everybody got to play (except for Amory Sanders and Monte Gordon, who were out with injuries) and they all produced, so everybody goes home with a good taste in their mouths," Garner said. "It's so good to have a pleasing win before you go out for Christmas."

Gordon, a junior reserve forward, missed his third straight game with recurring back problems. Sanders, a senior guard who is Southeast's fourth-leading scorer coming off the bench, has been bothered by a deep foot bruise. He could have played but was held out for precautionary reasons.

Sharpshooting guard Adam Fellers led Campbell with 19 points as he hit four of five 3-pointers.