Indians hang on after Murray State charges back

This time, Southeast Missouri State University's Indians didn't let a double-figure lead in the second half get away from them.

The result was a rare victory over Murray State that, according to Southeast players, said a lot about their team.

"We definitely showed our character tonight," sophomore guard Derek Winans said.

That would be hard to argue.

Just two days after seeing Tennessee-Martin rally for an overtime victory after trailing by 10 points, the Indians regrouped and stunned the mighty Racers 78-68 Saturday night in front of 5,264 appreciative fans at the Show Me Center.

Southeast improved to 7-9 overall and 2-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play. MSU fell to 9-6 and 2-2.

"This team has a lot of character, and I think we learned from the other night," senior forward Tim Scheer said. "It's an awesome feeling to beat Murray."

The Indians defeated the Racers only one other time at the Show Me Center, that coming during the 1991-92 season, Southeast's first on the Division I level.

Overall, the Indians had lost 19 of the previous 21 meetings with the Racers, including the last four.

"I just can't tell you how proud I am of our team," Southeast coach Gary Garner said. "I think this game really shows our character, after the tough loss we had Thursday night.

"I was really down after that game, and so were the players the next day in practice. I asked them, what if we had beaten Tennessee-Martin, do we think we could have beaten Murray State? Well, we're still the same team."

The message apparently sunk in.

"It was a tough loss Thursday, but we knew we played well, and we should have won," Winans said. "So we knew if we played that way again, we could do it."

Even after seeing a 19-point lead early in the second half shrink to two with a little more than seven minutes remaining, the Indians held strong.

"We knew they'd make a run. College basketball is a game of runs," sophomore point guard Kevin Roberts said. "We knew if we kept our composure, we could do it."

With Southeast's roster depleted by the knee injury to Demetrius King, who missed his second straight game, six Indians had to perform virtual iron-man roles as they all played at least 24 minutes.

Winans, who seemingly never tires, played all 40 minutes and scored 13 points, all coming after halftime. He hit seven of eight free throws down the stretch.

Scheer led the Indians with 17 points, 15 coming in the first half as Southeast opened up a surprising 38-23 lead. Scheer, who hit three of six 3-pointers, also had three steals.

Junior center Brandon Griffin scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as he played 35 minutes and helped the Indians battle the strong, athletic Racers to virtually even terms on the boards. MSU held just a 31-28 rebounding advantage. Griffin also recorded four assists.

Junior forward Damarcus Hence, playing his second straight strong game after having oral surgery earlier in the week, contributed 15 points.

Sophomore guard Brett Hale scored 10 points, all in the second half. He hit six straight free throws in the final minute as the Racers desperately needed to foul.

Roberts scored just two points -- he attempted only one field goal, a layup -- but handed out 11 assists without a turnover and also had six steals in 36 nearly flawless minutes of action.

"Those six were incredible for us," Garner said. "What a game Roberts had running the team, and Griffin on the boards, and all the others."

The Indians also got a lift from freshman forward Cole Grapperhaus, who scored five points in just five minutes. All the points came in the first half.

"Cole gave us a big lift," Garner said.

The Racers got 22 points and 11 rebounds from powerful, quick senior center James Singleton, who scored 16 points in the second half to fuel MSU's comeback. Guards Chris Shumate and Rick Jones both scored 13 points.

"Murray is such a tough team," Scheer said. "They're really strong and athletic."

Southeast, which had only eight turnovers while forcing 19, scored the first four points of the second half -- all by Griffin -- to open up a 42-23 lead that seemed to stun everybody in the Show Me Center.

"No way we're going to blow them out," Garner said. "I told the guys at halftime that it's a game of runs and they're going to make a run. We just have to keep our composure."

After MSU pulled to within 55-53 on a Cuthbert Victor free throw with 7:11 remaining, Southeast answered with eight straight points -- Winans had five -- to go back up 63-53.

The Racers got no closer than six points after that and the Indians hit all eight of their foul shots in the final minute -- six by Hale and two by Winans -- to finish strong.

When the Racers missed their final shot with under 25 seconds remaining, they backed off and allowed Roberts to dribble out the last 20 seconds uncontested as the Indians' bench and Southeast fans celebrated.

"Dribbling out the clock, knowing the game's over, that was an awesome feeling," Roberts said.

mmishow@semissourian.com

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