INDIANS NURSING OVC LEAD

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- Their Ohio Valley Conference lead now down to just a single game in the loss column, Southeast Missouri State University's basketball Indians will tonight try to bounce back and keep from dropping into a virtual first-place tie.

The Indians, who had a five-game winning streak snapped at Tennessee State Thursday night, will take on the talent-rich Austin Peay Governors in a 7:45 p.m. tipoff at the Dunn Center.

"It's a really big game for us, but they're all big," said Southeast coach Gary Garner. "We're coming off a tough loss (56-52 to Tennessee State), but we didn't deserve to win that game."

Southeast, 16-4 overall, is 9-2 in OVC play. Second-place Murray State is 7-3, and the Racers figure to win at home tonight against Tennessee-Martin. So a second straight loss by the Indians would likely drop them into a virtual dead heat with the Racers for first place.

"It can go quickly," said Garner of the Indians' lead. "A loss (tonight) and we're probably tied with Murray State."

Austin Peay, 11-8 overall and a sixth-place 5-6 in the OVC, has been somewhat up and down this season, but there is no disputing the Governors' talent.

"I think they might be the most talented team in our league," Garner said. "They are very talented and they are going to be very tough to beat on their home court."

Whether Austin Peay is the most talented team in the OVC is up for debate, but most observers agree that the Governors possess the league's best player in Trenton Hassell, who has been projected as a future first-round NBA draft pick.

Hassell, a 6-foot-5 junior, can virtually do it all. He's an adept ballhandler, a solid outside shooter and an explosive slasher to the basket.

"He's the best player in the OVC, no question about it," said Garner. "He's a great player and I don't think there's any doubt he'll be playing in the NBA some day. He can do so many things."

Hassell averages 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game to rank third, fifth and first in the OVC in those categories.

And Hassell also has a flair for the dramatic. His 3-point shot at the buzzer Thursday lifted the Governors to a stunning 70-69 win over Eastern Illinois.

When Austin Peay and Southeast squared off Jan. 8 at the Show Me Center, Hassell almost forced overtime as his shot from just inside the 3-point arc bounced off, allowing the Indians to prevail 62-60.

Southeast was hot from 3-point range during the first half of that earlier meeting as the Indians built a 21-point lead only to see the Governors rally and ultimately go ahead late. But the Tribe prevailed on Antonio Short's basket and free throw with two seconds left.

"We shot the ball extremely well early in that game to build a big lead," Garner said. "It's going to be difficult to shoot that well this time, on the road."

Hassell is far from Austin Peay's only weapon. Nick Stapleton, a 6-1 junior guard, averages 14.4 points per game and has been coming on strong recently.

Joe Williams, a 6-9 junior center, has also picked up his game in recent weeks. He's averaging 11 points and six rebounds per contest.

"They've got plenty of weapons other than Hassell," said Garner. "Stapleton is really talented and guys like Williams and (Theanthony) Haymon (9.4 points, 5.7 rebounds per game) are strong inside."

Austin Peay leads the OVC in field-goal shooting as a team, with an impressive 49 percent. That figure should be tested tonight, because the Indians are first in the league in field-goal percentage defense (38 percent) as well as scoring defense (60.6 points per game).

The Indians helped those totals Thursday night, even though they lost. Tennessee State shot just 35 percent from the field on its way to scoring 56 points, but the Tigers prevailed because Southeast shot just 33 percent.

"We just really played very poorly offensively," said Garner of Thursday's performance. "We got completely out of sync and tried to do things too quick. Everything was a struggle for us."

Garner knows the Indians will need a much sharper performance tonight in order to avoid their first two-game losing streak of the season.

"It's always tough to win on the road, I don't care what conference you're in," Garner said. "We've really had a lot of success on the road (over the past two seasons), but we're going to have to play a lot better than we did against Tennessee State to beat Austin Peay."