INDIANS' BUS RUNS OVER TIGERS; SE DEFEATS TENNESSEE ST. 70-49

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Talk about a productive road trip.

For Southeast Missouri State University's basketball Indians, it simply doesn't get much better than this.

The Indians, just two days after winning at Austin Peay, led virtually from wire to wire Saturday night as they stunned Tennessee State 70-49 in front of 1,054 fans at the Gentry Center.

So in a span of about 48 hours, the Indians knocked off the two teams picked to finish second (Tennessee State) and third (Austin Peay) in the Ohio Valley Conference this season.

Not bad for a team tabbed for fifth in the OVC's preseason poll.

"I'm just really proud of our guys," said Southeast coach Gary Garner, whose team is 4-2 overall and 2-0 in OVC play. "To go on the road and beat both Austin Peay and Tennessee State is just a tremendous accomplishment.

"I don't know of very many teams in our league that will go to these two places and win even one game, except for maybe Murray State. To win both of these games is really a great way to start conference play."

Bud Eley had a big game for the Indians with 19 points and 11 rebounds, both game highs.

Cory Johnson followed with 12 points and Roderick Johnson added nine.

"We're trying to make a statement to the rest of the league," said R. Johnson. "We know we're way better than fifth place. But it's good to be able to sneak up on people."

TSU entered the game outrebounding the opposition by nearly 15 per game. But the Indians pounded the Tigers on the boards 52 to 22. Demetrius Watson added seven rebounds.

"I really challenged our kids about the boards," Garner said. "I kept preaching about blocking off. I felt if we stayed close on the boards we would have a good chance to win."

Said Watson, "Rebounding was the biggest key. Coach really emphasized it."

The Tigers (3-3 overall, 1-1 OVC) got 14 points from Jamie Roberts, the OVC's leading scorer who had been averaging 24.2 points per game.

But TSU shot just 35 percent from the field (21 of 60). Southeast shot 47 percent (23 of 49).

"I told the guys all week that if we go out and play defense we would win it," said Southeast point guard Jeramy Biles.

TSU scored the game's first point -- but after that the night basically belong to the Indians.

Biles scored four straight points, Eley got inside for a basket and C. Johnson drilled a 3-pointer. So a little less than four minutes into the contest, Southeast had a 9-1 lead.

The Indians held their biggest lead of the first half when Nathan Owen came off the bench to bury a 3-pointer with just over eight minutes left before halftime, putting Southeast ahead 25-9.

TSU was able to get within 27-19, but Kahn Cotton's driving basket with 1:08 remaining before the break gave the Indians another 16-point lead at 35-19. Southeast was up 35-22 at halftime.

Mike Branson and Eley each scored a basket to start the second half as the Indians opened up a 39-22 bulge.

With TSU scoring just two points over the first seven minutes of the final half, Southeast's lead never was less than 17 points the rest of the way.

Eley hit two free throws and then scored on a follow shot to put Southeast ahead 45-24 with 12:26 left. Continuing to dominate in the second half, Eley drove for a bucket with 7:22 remaining as the Indians opened up a 25-point lead at 56-31.

TSU never got closer than 19 points down the stretch as Garner was even able to let his walk-on players see action in the closing moments.

"To come in here and beat Tennessee State by the margin we did is pretty amazing," said Garner. "I felt like if we played well we had a shot, although they are an extremely talented team. But to win by this many points and to basically never trail says a lot about the way we played."

Added Garner with a smile, "If somebody had told me we'd come here and win by 21, I'd have never believed it. It was just a tremendous performance."

The Indians will now take a break from OVC play as they have another road game Tuesday night, taking on highly-regarded Arkansas State in Jonesboro. Arkansas State is the defending Sun Belt Conference champion.