INDIANS GET HASSELL-ED AGAIN

Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team made up 23 points from its first meeting with Austin Peay.

But that improvement still wasn't enough to prevent a second straight loss to the Governors.

In a game that was about as closely contested as possible for most of the way, Austin Peay used a late surge -- along with the all-around brilliant play of Trenton Hassell -- to claim a hard-fought 77-72 victory in front of 5,426 fans at the Show Me Center Thursday night.

Austin Peay, which beat Southeast 88-60 in Clarksville, Tenn., on Jan. 6, improved to 15-6 overall and 6-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play.

Southeast, which had a three-game winning streak snapped, fell to 13-9 overall and 4-5 in the OVC as the Indians dipped into tie for fifth place in the nine-team league.

"I knew it would be tough," said Hassell, a 6-foot-5 senior swingman who is regarded as a probable first-round NBA draft pick. "The last game (against Southeast), we were hot, but it's hard to beat them here."

Hassell, who scored 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds while also making just about every big play down the stretch, added, "They have a lot of good players. We knew we would have to play hard and I think we did a good job."

The Indians lost despite having an OVC season low of five turnovers and making an impressive 19 of 20 free throws. Shooting 42 percent from the field hurt some, but Southeast coach Gary Garner still had few complaints.

"We didn't shoot the ball that well. It's hard to beat a team like Austin Peay shooting 42 percent," said Garner. "But I don't know if I'd do anything differently. We had the tempo going our way, we only had five turnovers and we hit our free throws.

"Austin Peay is just an outstanding team and they made all the plays tonight. You just have to tip your hat to them. We played well, but they just played better."

For Southeast, it was the latest in a line of tough-to-take OVC home losses for the defending league regular-season co-champions. The Indians have already dropped two-point decisions at the Show Me Center to both Tennessee Tech and Murray State.

"I've said the last several weeks, we are so close," Garner said. "But we're just not quite good enough. We just don't make the plays we need to make."

While Southeast had only five turnovers, the Govs committed just six. And they shot a sizzling 58 percent from the field, thanks mostly to the penetrating moves of the sensational Hassell and point guard Nick Stapleton, who are adept at finding the open man when the defense collapses on them.

Southeast came out smoking and built a 23-12 lead at the midway point of the first half. But, as expected, things settled down after that. The Indians scored just six points over the final 9:37 of the opening period as Austin Peay surged ahead 31-29 at the break.

The second half was a virtual classic. The teams traded blows for the first 18 minutes, with neither squad leading by more than four points.

After several lead changes and ties, Austin Peay went ahead 48-46 on a Hassell basket with 11:38 remaining.

Another Hassell bucket made it 50-46, but the Indians tied it at 55-55 on two Emmanuel McCuthison free throws at the 7:08 mark.

Michael Stokes gave the Indians a 57-55 lead when he made two free throws after a steal with 6:53 left.

The Indians built their only four-point lead of the half on Tim Scheer's follow shot that made it 59-55 at the 6:06 mark.

Austin Peay pulled to within 60-59, then Hassell took over. He scored seven straight points during a run that saw the Govs grab a 66-62 lead with just over three minutes left.

"Great players take over games and that's what Hassell did," Garner said. "He's just a tremendous player and we didn't have an answer for him."

The Govs would eventually build a 71-64 lead on Theathony Haymon's acrobatic three-point play with 1:47 remaining. Scheer hit a pair of 3-pointers to keep the Indians alive -- his second trey with 51 seconds left pulled Southeast to within 73-70 -- but Austin Peay was able to hold on.

Stokes led Southeast with 17 points and seven assists. Scheer, continuing to shine off the bench, scored all 14 of his points in the second half. Antonio Short and Daniel Weaver both scored 11 points.

Stapleton added 16 points and seven assists for the Govs. Haymon scored 15 points and Joe Williams had 14.

"It was a great game. We were able to hang on," said Austin Peay coach Dave Loos. "Trenton was just kind of able to take over at the end. I'd have hated to play that game without him."