Indians look for a big finish vs. Tulane

NEW ORLEANS -- Southeast Missouri State University faces a daunting task in trying to finish the University Hoops Classic with two victories.

The Indians take on host Tulane at 3 p.m. today in the third-place game of the six-team tournament. Both squads went 1-1 and finished third in their three-team pools.

"Not only is Tulane a very good team, but they'll be difficult to beat on their home court," Southeast coach Gary Garner said. "We'll have our work cut out for us."

Southeast and Tulane are both 2-2 overall after losing tournament games Friday.

The Indians, who opened the event Thursday with an 89-75 win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee, fell to Indiana State 68-55 Friday. The Green Wave lost to Central Florida 66-61 Friday after opening Thursday with a 84-65 rout of Maine.

"We really wanted to get into the championship game after beating Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and I thought we had a good chance to do it," Garner said. "But I know we were tired after playing on consecutive nights and Indiana State played well. They've got a good team and they really played well defensively."

Southeast suffered from woeful shooting against Indiana State after torching Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The Indians went just three for 18 from 3-point range against the Sycamores after hitting 13 of 23 from beyond the arc against the Panthers.

"Our shots were coming up short and when that happens, it usually means you're tired," Garner said. "But I don't want to take anything away from Indiana State. Their defense had a lot to do with our shooting."

Although the Indians practiced Saturday, not playing a game should help them regain their legs.

"We should be able to get our legs back and be fresh again for this last game," Garner said. "If we could go 2-1 in the tournament, it would really be good. But that's going to be tough against Tulane."

Senior forward Tim Scheer, Southeast's leading scorer in the tournament with 41 points, said he's optimistic the Indians can do it.

"We need to bounce back," Scheer said. " I know Tulane is going to be really tough, but if we play like we did aginst Wisconsin-Milwaukee, we can do it."

Beating Tulane will be difficult. After going 14-15 last season, the Green Wave returned virtually their entire lineup and were expected to be much improved. They were picked second in Conference USA's National Division preseason poll.

Brandon Brown, a muscular 6-foot-8, 230-pound senior forward who led the Green Wave in scoring last year with nearly 15 points per game, has gotten off to a strong start this year. He is averaging 16.3 points and 10 rebounds a contest.

Also averaging in double figures for the Green Wave are 6-1 senior guard Brandon Spann (15.5 ppg) and 6-6 senior forward Nick Sinville (11.0 ppg).

Southeast's balanced attack features five double-figure scorers: Derek Winans (15 ppg), Scheer (15 ppg), junior forward Damarcus Hence (13.8 ppg), sophomore guard Brett Hale (12.8 ppg) and junior center Brandon Griffin (11.5 ppg). Griffin averages 10 rebounds a contest.

The Indians might regain the services of one of their anticipated key players today as junior forward Reggie Golson looked solid in Saturday's practice. Golson, a junior-college transfer, has not yet played this year because his recovery from arthroscopic knee surgery has been slower than anticipated.

"It would be nice to start working Reggie into some games," Garner said. "We'll see how his knee feels."

The Indians actually finished in a three-way tie for first place in their pool after Wisconsin-Milwaukee beat Indiana State 71-59 Saturday. All three squads went 1-1, meaning point differential was used to determine today's final-round pairings.

Southeast and Indiana State both outscored their tournament opponents by a combined one point while Wisconsin-Milwaukee was outscored by two points. But Indiana State will play for the championship because it beat the Indians.

Central Florida, which went 2-0 in its pool, will face Indiana State for the title at 5 p.m. Maine, which went 0-2, will play Wisconsin-Milwaukee for fifth place at 1 p.m.

mmishow@semissourian.com

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