INDIANS DECLAW TIGERS

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Gary Garner worried all week that his Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball team would be looking ahead to Saturday's nationally televised showdown at Austin Peay, thus not focusing properly on Tennessee State.

Well, Garner evidently fretted for nothing. The Indians were plenty focused Thursday night, blitzing the Tigers early and often on their way to an 88-57 Ohio Valley Conference road romp.

The Indians improved to 9-4 overall as they evened their OVC record at 1-1. TSU fell to 3-10 overall as it dropped its conference opener. The Tigers lost for just the second time at home this season.

"I was really worried about this game," said Garner. "People have been talking for a long time about the Austin Peay game, and being on ESPN. I really worried that we might overlook this game.

"The thing I'm really proud of, I told the players how big a game this was. Our players realized how big a game it was. We took control early and that's always important in a game like this."

Southeast certainly did take control early. After spotting TSU the game's first basket, the Indians scored seven straight points and they steadily built their lead to 21 points before settling for a 49-30 halftime advantage, thanks to a jumper with five seconds left by freshman guard Joel Shelton.

Terry Rogers, Amory Sanders and Michael Stokes did most of the Indians' first-half damage.

Rogers, a 6-foot-10, 280-pound center, dominated the much smaller Tigers inside on his way to 13 first-half points. He hit six of six field-goal attempts, all of which came from within a few feet of the basket.

"Terry continues to get better and better," said Garner.

Sanders, a senior guard, had missed the last three games with a deep stone bruise in his foot that is extremely painful. Garner made the decision recently to not have the sharp-shooting Sanders practice at all, only allowing him to play in games.

The OVC's leading 3-pointer shooter, Sanders was left wide open by the Tigers four times from long range over the opening 20 minutes. He hit all four of the shots for 12 first-half points.

"Amory makes us a lot better basketball team," Garner said. "He's a tough kid, and he's very intelligent. I know he's playing in a lot of pain, but we really need his shooting out there."

Said Sanders, "It's painful and I know it's going to be that way the rest of the year. But I know the team needs me out there. Coach said he just wants me out there to shoot."

Stokes, the Indians' stellar senior point guard, added 11 first-half points.

"We know we can't take anybody lightly, especially not in the OVC," said Stokes. "Coach talked to us about not looking ahead to Austin Peay. We're not going to overlook any team. We came out ready to play."

The Indians shot 56.3 percent from the field in the first half, hitting 18 of 32 shots.

"I thought we really played well in the first half," said Garner. "We really executed our offense."

Emmanuel McCuthison hit a 3-pointer to start the second half as the Indians went up 52-30. McCuthison's follow dunk at the 15:33 mark made it 60-35. TSU came back with an 11-0 run to pull within 60-46 and the Tigers later got to within 62-49, but a big 3-pointer by reserve Monte Gordon made it 65-49 and TSU never got closer than 14 points the rest of the way as the Indians stretched their lead out down the stretch. They closed the game with a 21-6 run and finished with a season-high point total.

"You always expect a team at home to make a run at you," Garner said. "We hit kind of a lull in the second half and they did have that run, but we never really let them got close enough where you felt like they were really in the game. And then we kind of took over the game again and really put them away."

Stokes finished with a game-high 18 points and he also had four assists. Sanders had 15 points as he hit his only 3-point attempt in the second half, making him 5-for-5 for the game from long range.Rogers did not take a shot in the second half and wound up with 13 points to go along with two blocked shots. McCuthison had 12 points and nine rebounds as the Indians controlled the boards by a 41-31 count.

Antonio Short had nine points and a team-high five assists. Daniel Weaver chipped in with eight points off the bench late in the game as the Indians finished off the Tigers. Tim Scheer added seven rebounds off the bench.

Southeast finished the game shooting 53.8 percent of its shots on 35 of 65. The Indians were nine of 18 from 3-point range for 50 percent.

TSU was led by Aloushala Ajanaku with 12 points. Jamie Roberts and John Gilmore added 11. The Tigers shot just 35.5 percent on 22 of 62.

"I told the players after the game, I don't care who you're playing, to win by 31 on the road means you have a good basketball team," said Garner. "We basically controlled this game from the opening buzzer to the final buzzer."

And now the Indians can finally turn their full attention to Austin Peay, the preseason OVC favorite led by All-American candidate Trenton Hassell. The Governors began league play Thursday with a one-point overtime win over Eastern Illinois.

"I guess we don't have a choice but to think about Austin Peay now," said a laughing Garner. "It's going to be a great challenge for us, but we should go there with a lot of confidence after this kind of game."