INDIANS END SKID WITH WIN AT UTM

MARTIN, Tenn. -- One glaring weakness of Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team this season has been an inability to finish games strong.

On numerous occasions, the Indians have played relatively well for much of the way before faltering down the stretch. Consequently, they have lost several close contests to become arguably the Ohio Valley Conference's most disappointing squad.

But that problem was nowhere to be found Saturday night. As a result, Southeast's longest losing streak ever under coach Gary Garner is now history, thanks to a 81-73 victory over Tennessee-Martin.

For the first time in a while, there was joy along the Indians' bench at the final buzzer as they ended a four-game slide. Southeast is now 14-11 overall and 5-8 in OVC play heading into its final four contests of the regular season, which will all be at home.

"It just feels good to finally win again," said Garner, whose team had previously suffered only as many as three consecutive losses, that coming during his initial season in 1997-98. "I've said all along that our guys have really hung in there and stayed as positive as you could expect to under the circumstances. But you can only hang in there so long without a win.

"We've had a lot of trouble finishing off games this season. If we had been able to do a better job of that, our record would be a lot better and we'd probably be fighting for another conference championship. But tonight we really finished off the game well and I'm really proud of them."

Garner said he saw signs that the Indians might be ready to turn the corner Thursday night, even though they suffered an 11-point loss at Murray State.

"I don't want to get too excited over one game, but I've been seeing signs," he said. "I told them (the players) before the game that tonight was the night."

The Indians shot a sizzling 59.5 percent from the field on 22 of 37, thanks in large part to the fact they were able to get plenty of easy opportunities inside. Southeast also went seven of 11 from 3-point range for 63.6 percent.

"I thought at Murray State we turned our offense pretty good but we just didn't make shots," Garner said. "Tonight we made those shots, and we got the ball inside a lot."

Southeast was also aided by hitting 30 of 35 free throws for 85.7 percent, many of those coming in the final minutes as the Skyhawks were forced to foul.

Michael Stokes led the Indians offensively with 16 points. He also had five assists as he was playing for the first time during his two-year Southeast career in front of his family, which made the trip to Tennessee from Virginia.

"It's the first time they've seen me play and I didn't even know they were coming," said a grinning Stokes. "It was a nice surprise and it's good we could get them a win.

"We turned our offense tonight and finished the game strong. This could really get us going."

Drew DeMond continued his recent strong play with 12 points. Daniel Weaver added 10 points and six assists while Emmanuel McCuthison scored nine points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds while also recording three assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

Antonio Short and Amory Sanders also contributed nine points apiece. Sanders, the nation's leading 3-point shooter, hit all three of his attempts from beyond the arc.

"It feels good to win. Finally," DeMond said. "We were getting the ball inside a lot and getting a lot of easy baskets."

While the Indians ended their losing streak, the previously red-hot Skyhawks saw a three-game winning streak come to a halt. UTM fell to 10-13 overall and 5-7 in the OVC.

"They had beaten Austin Peay, Murray State and Eastern Illinois, three of the best teams in the league, here," Garner said. "We knew this would be a tough game to come win."

Jeremy Sargent led the Skyhawks with 20 points. Former Three Rivers Community College star Brian Foster had 18, followed by Michael Jackson with 12 and Okechi Egbe with 11.

Southeast grabbed an early 9-1 advantage. UTM was able to take three two-point leads midway through the first half and the squads were tied at 21-21 when the Indians used an 8-0 run to surge ahead 29-21.

The Indians led by eight twice more in the opening period, but the Skyhawks scored the final four points to close within 41-37 at the intermission.

UTM pulled into a 43-43 tie early in the second half and appeared to have plenty of momentum.

But the Indians immediately took control of the contest with a 9-0 run. Stokes' driving shot with 15:56 left gave Southeast the lead for good at 45-43.

Sanders, limping noticeably because of a bad foot that has plagued him virtually all season, drilled a 3-pointer to make it 48-43. Tim Scheer nailed a 15-footer, then he got a layup off a nice feed from Stokes as the Indians went up 52-43 with 14:12 remaining.

A Weaver layup with 12:43 to play put the Indians up 54-44 and marked their largest advantage of the night.

UTM scored the next six points to pull within 54-50. Again, Southeast stood tall and built its lead back to 70-61 in the late going.

The Skyhawks were able to cut their deficit to three with under a minute left, but the Indians clinched the victory from the free-throw line as they made nine of 10 in the final 46 seconds. Stokes was five of six while McCuthison and Short each went two of two.