Indians hang on, cling to OVC hope

RICHMOND, Ky. -- Too bad Southeast Missouri State University can't play Eastern Kentucky more often.

The Indians' only two Ohio Valley Conference victories of the season have come against the Colonels, including Saturday night' 81-74 road win that kept Southeast in the hunt for the eighth and final spot in the OVC Tournament.

Southeast (4-19, 2-10) remained last in the nine-team league, but the Indians pulled just a game behind eighth-place EKU (7-16, 3-9). Both squads have four contests remaining and, in the event of a tie, the Indians own the tie-breaker by having swept the season series.

"This is one we absolutely had to have. We approached it as a must-win," said Southeast coach Gary Garner, whose squad snapped an eight-game losing streak and notched its first road triumph of the season. "Our backs were to the wall and I'm proud of the guys because as bad as this season has been they just have never given up. You better believe it feels good to finally win again."

On Jan. 10 at the Show Me Center, Southeast routed EKU 95-75. Saturday's contest was much closer with five ties and 15 lead changes. But, for one of the few times this season, the Indians were able to avoid the kind of late collapse that has plagued them in so many of their losses.

"We were able to finish the game strong, which is something we've had a lot of trouble with," Garner said. "For a change, we made the big baskets toward the end of the game that we really needed to have."

Drew DeMond, playing his second straight game after missing the previous three contests with a sprained knee and ankle, paced the Indians offensively with 19 points. DeMond hit seven of 11 shots from the field.

"This feels good because we really needed it," DeMond said. "Now we've got to win some more."

Tim Scheer hit six of eight shots -- including all three of his 3-point attempts -- and scored 17 points, 13 coming in the second half.

Brett Hale hit three of four 3-pointers and added 15 points while Derek Winans pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds from his guard position.

"It feels very good," said Hale, a freshman guard who has been one of the Indians' most consistent performers in recent weeks. "This was probably our biggest game all season. We knew we had to win it."

Chris Carswell led three EKU players in double figures with 21 points. Michael Haney added 19.

Southeast, trailing 37-34 at halftime, came out hot early in the second half when Scheer hit three 3-pointers.

After a 70-70 tie, the Indians finally took control with an 8-0 run.

The Indians shot 57.4 percent from the field in the game (31 of 54), including 50 percent from 3-point range (seven of 14).

Southeast will play their next three games at the Show Me Center, beginning Thursday night against Tennessee-Martin.

mmishow@semissourian.com

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