Indians look to get even against Eagles

Southeast Missouri State University's Indians squandered their chance to start Ohio Valley Conference play with a bang, thanks to Thursday's 52-48 home loss to defending champion and preseason favorite Austin Peay.

But the Indians (7-5, 0-1) know it's important for them to salvage at least something out of their opening conference homestand, making tonight's 7:30 game against Tennessee Tech (6-6, 0-1) vital.

"It's a must win," said senior center Brandon Griffin, who scored a game-high 17 points against Austin Peay. "We can't afford to lose two home games. We have to come out with a positive attitude."

Which might be easier said than done, considering the Indians' dismal offensive performance Thursday. Austin Peay scored the game's first eight points, led 16-3 10 minutes in and moved ahead 22-7 with six minutes left before halftime.

Southeast staged a furious comeback down the stretch and had the ball with a two-point deficit in the closing seconds but never could catch up. The Indians shot just 30.8 percent in the game.

"After a loss like this, we can't dwell on it," Griffin said. "We have to fight back."

Southeast coach Gary Garner knows the Indians need to come out swinging tonight.

"We just have to regroup and bounce back," Garner said. "It's a very big game."

And big for the Eagles as well because they also started their conference season with a loss, falling 83-70 at Eastern Illinois Thursday night.

"They'll be hungry, just like we have to be," Garner said.

The Eagles, picked to finish fifth in the OVC after returning just one starter from last year's 20-win team that reached the conference tournament finals, were one of the league's more impressive squads in non-conference play before stumbling Thursday. Three of their losses were to Southeastern Conference programs Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Tennessee.

"I think they were one of the surprises of the league going into the conference season," Garner said. "They didn't return very many players that people knew about, but they've played well."

Tech is led by 6-foot-6 junior forward Willie Jenkins, a transfer from Massachusetts who is the OVC's third-leading scorer at 19.9 points per game. Jenkins also ranks high in the league in rebounding (6.9) and field-goal shooting (51 percent). In addition, he's shooting nearly 40 percent from 3-point range.

"He's an awfully hard worker who plays hard every night," Tech coach Mike Sutton said. "He was able to practice with us last year, and he's been a big asset."

Cameron Crisp, a 6-foot-4 guard and the Eagles' lone returning starter, is averaging 13.8 points per game. Also in double figures is 6-4 sophomore guard Milone Clark (13.1 ppg), who is hitting a sizzling 47.3 percent of his 3-pointers (18 of 38).

Tech is the OVC's second-highest scoring team at 81.3 points per game, and the Eagles rank third in rebounding margin at plus two.

"They can really score, with a lot of athletes and shooters, and they're a good rebounding team," Garner said. "We're going to have to play very good defensively, and we need to get on the boards."

Noteworthy

***Tennessee State snapped an 18-game OVC regular-season losing streak dating back two years as the Tigers beat visiting Jacksonville State 88-74 in their conference opener Thursday night.