INDIANS FIND GOVS GET WELLS TOO SOON

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University basketball coach Ron Shumate said prior to his team's Ohio Valley Conference opener that he would rather face Austin Peay with Bubba Wells on the court.

Shumate got his wish. But you kind of doubt that he still feels that way.

Wells, Austin Peay's brilliant senior forward who was the nation's leading returning scorer after averaging 26.3 points per game last year, had missed the first 12 games of the season with a stress fracture in his leg.

Despite practicing for the last couple of weeks, Wells had not played in any games. Austin Peay coach Dave Loos was leaving the decision on when to return totally up to his player.

Well, Friday Wells made the decision. He told Loos he wanted to see his first action of the season Saturday afternoon against Southeast in a game nationally televised by ESPN2.

The 6-foot-5 Wells did not start. But he entered the game after less than five minutes and wound up dominating the contest as the Govs recorded a hard-fought 96-85 victory.

Austin Peay, the defending OVC Tournament champion which had been struggling without Wells, improved to 5-8 overall and 2-1 in the league. Southeast is 3-9 overall after dropping its OVC opener.

Wells looked like his old self as he showed few ill effects from the injury and layoff. He scored 16 first-half points and wound up with 39 points in 28 minutes. He hit 13 of 22 shots from the field, including seven of 11 3-pointers.

Wells also had two signature dunks, including a sensational follow slam early in the second half that gave the Govs the lead for good at 52-51.

"I think, under the circumstances, with his injury and so forth, I don't think I've ever seen anything better in sports," said Austin Peay coach Dave Loos in marveling at Wells' performance. "It was incredible."

Although it didn't seem so by the way he played, Wells said he still has a long way to go before being at full strength.

"I'm still not close to where I was," he said. "My lungs need some work, but that will come with time."

Wells entered the game to a thunderous ovation from the crowd of 3,039.

"For the first time, I was nervous," he said with a smile. "I hardly ever get nervous."

Said Shumate, "Wells is a great player. We couldn't do anything with him."

Almost matching Wells point for point was Southeast's 6-10 junior center, Bud Eley, who had 17 first-half points and finished with 31. Eley hit 13 of 17 shots and also pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds as the Indians won the board battle by a 45-32 count.

"They couldn't do anything with Bud, but none of our other kids stepped up," Shumate said.

Allen Hatchett added 15 points for the Indians while Calvert White had 14.

Austin Peay also got a big game from shooter deluxe Joe Sibbitt, who hit six of 14 3-pointers and scored 20 points. Sibbitt did not attempt a shot from inside the 3-point arc. Reggie Crenshaw added 12 points for the Govs.

"They shot the ball extremely well, especially from the 3-point line," said Shumate of the Govs, who hit 15 of 34 3-pointers. "They shot the eyes out of it and we couldn't do anything with it.

"We knew exactly what they were going to do but we couldn't stop it. It's hard to win giving up 96 points."

Both teams held several first-half leads. The Govs, who were ahead by eight at one point in the opening 20 minutes, settled for a 41-40 advantage at the intermission.

Baskets by White and Eley to start the second half quickly pushed Southeast back ahead 44-41. A Wells 3-pointer tied it at 44.

Southeast held several more leads, the last coming on Richard Lyte's 3-pointer with 16:20 left that made it 51-50.

Then came the highlight play of the game. Austin Peay missed a shot but Wells swooped in, grabbed the rebound and powered home a dunk that knocked the rim out of place and sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Austin Peay had a 52-51 lead and the rim was quickly put back into place. Wells and Mike Witherspoon then followed with baskets as the Govs went ahead 56-51.

Eley got a follow dunk of his own and Montgomery scored on a follow shot to pull the Indians back to within 56-55.

The Govs then began to pull away. Sibbitt drained consecutive 3-pointers that were sandwiched around a Hatchett basket to make it 62-57.

Southeast got to within 64-61, but Wells scored eight points during a 10-1 run that gave the Govs a 74-62 lead with 8:38 left. The Indians never got closer than six points the rest of the way.