INDIANS EXPERIENCE SHORT OUT AT THE SHOOTING GUARD

Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team has suffered a bad break -- literally.

Antonio Short, a 6-foot-2 junior who had started the Indians' first two games at shooting guard, has a broken right wrist that could sideline him for up to five or six weeks.

Short injured the wrist Nov. 22 against Rockhurst, but it was believed to be nothing more than a sprain. He sat out Saturday's game against Montana and, when the wrist did not seem to be improving, further X-rays were taken earlier this week.

Those X-rays revealed a break. Short will have the wrist in a cast for about three weeks, at which time the wrist will be further evaluated."I don't know how long after the cast comes off he'll be ready to go, but he's probably out five to six weeks at least," said Southeast coach Gary Garner, whose 3-0 squad opens Ohio Valley Conference play at Tennessee Tech Thursday night. "It's unfortunate for Antonio and the team."A junior-college All-American at Moberly (Mo.) Community College last season, Short was part of the Indians' highly touted five-man juco recruiting class.

And Short had not disappointed during the early part of the season, averaging 11 points through two games to rank third on the squad."He's a very strong player and he really gave us what we needed on defense, plus he can score. I thought he had the potential to be our leading scorer," said Garner.

While the injury certainly figures to hurt the Indians, Garner said other players will simply have to pick up the slack."I told the team that we'll find out if we are a team or not," Garner said. "We'll just have to bite the bullet and move on."Short's absence figures to mean even more playing time for the likes of fellow juco transfers Amory Sanders and Emmanuel McCuthison.

Sanders, who started for Short against Montana and has been seeing plenty of action anyway, is fourth on the team in scoring at 10.7 points per game. Sanders' 20 points off the bench against Rockhurst is the Indians' single-game high for the season.

Southeast should also soon receive a boost at guard from the return of sophomore Fred Abraham, who is academically ineligible for the first semester.

If Abraham, a key backup at point guard last season, meets academic requirements, he will become eligible prior to the Arkansas State game Dec. 18.

Abraham would provide solid relief for starting point guard Michael Stokes, who is averaging more than 35 minutes per game, and he can also fill in at shooting guard."Getting Fred back will really help us," said Garner.