INDIANS OFF BUT RACE STILL ON; TECH UPSETS SE 68-62 ON WEIRD NIGHT IN OVC

There was bad news and good news for Southeast Missouri State University's basketball team Saturday night.

First, the bad news: Southeast suffered a 68-62 loss to Tennessee Tech in front of 6,333 stunned fans at the Show Me Center.

Now, the good news: Murray State suffered a stunning defeat of its own, falling 74-73 at Tennessee-Martin.

So the bottom line is that Thursday night's Ohio Valley Conference showdown at Murray State is still on. The first-place Racers, 13-1 in league play, and the 12-2, second-place Indians will square off with the conference lead on the line.

Murray's loss did a little bit to ease the pain of Southeast's defeat -- but not all that much.

"This one hurts because I thought it's one we would get," said Southeast coach Gary Garner, whose squad fell to 15-7 overall. "But I told the team after the game that we're where we thought we'd be going to Murray.

"We thought we'd be a game behind. But, at the same time, we let one slip away. We could have been in a lot better shape going to Murray."

That the Indians aren't can be attributed to a variety of factors -- not the least being a strong performance by the Golden Eagles (10-12 overall, 6-8 OVC), who battled back from an early 12-point deficit.

"I think you really have to give Tennessee Tech credit," Garner said. "(Josh) Heard hit a lot of big shots, a lot of big 3-pointers, and kept us from getting control of the game."

Heard, a quick 6-foot-2 junior guard, burned the Indians for 25 points as he hit six of 10 3-pointers. The Eagles were 10-for-18 from 3-point range as a team.

"Josh had a great game and we played awfully well on the road," said Tech coach Jeff Lebo. "On the road, against one of the top teams in the league, this is really special."

The Indians were hampered by star center Bud Eley's foul trouble. He got two fouls in the first two minutes, got his third later in the half and was hit with his fourth early in the second half.

Eley played only half the game -- 20 minutes -- and scored just 12 points as he attempted only five shots from the field before fouling out late in the contest.

Southeast was also hurt by poor shooting. The Indians shot just 38 percent from the field (18 of 47), including a woeful 16 percent from 3-point range (three of 19).

"Bud getting into foul trouble hurt us and we shot the ball way too quick," Garner said. "We didn't play real smart, but like I said, you really have to give Tennessee Tech credit for playing a very good basketball game."

Roderick Johnson, picking up the slack inside with Eley in foul trouble, led the Indians with 22 points as he hit seven of 10 shots from the field. Johnson also pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

But the Indians' starting backcourt of Cory Johnson and Kahn Cotton combined to go just 4-for-17 from the field, including 3-for-15 from 3-point range.

Tech got 10 points from three players: Joey Westmoreland, Eric Akins and Corey Hemphill, who also dished out a game-high eight assists.

Southeast, which lost for just the second time in its last 11 games and had a five-game winning streak snapped, started strong despite Eley going to the bench with two fouls in the first two minutes.

The Indians scored the first four points and later opened up leads of 17-7 and 21-9.

But the Eagles would not go away on this night. They clawed back to force a 27-27 tie late in the first half. Brian Bunche hit one of two free throws with three seconds left as the Indians went ahead 28-27 at halftime.

Southeast quickly opened up a 39-32 lead early in the second half, but once again Tech was not fazed.

Heard's 3-pointer with 13:03 left forged a 41-41 tie and Westmoreland's 3-pointer at the 12:29 mark put Tech ahead 42-44 -- marking the Eagles' first lead of the game.

The Indians would take one more lead, at 48-46 on R. Johnson's two free throws with 9:42 left.

But Tech regained the advantage at 49-48 on Hemphill's 3-pointer with 8:29 remaining.

Southeast was able to get even once more at 53-53 on C. Johnson's long 3-pointer at the 6:30 mark.

But Hemphill made two foul shots with 6:04 left to put Tech ahead 55-53 and the Eagles never again lost the lead.

Tech went ahead 61-55 on Whitehorn's 15-footer with 3:50 remaining.

Southeast got within 61-59 on Mike Branson's drive. Then, after a Tech turnover, C. Johnson -- a 93-percent free-throw shooter -- missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:33 to play.

Heard hit two free throws with 29 seconds left, C. Johnson missed a long 3-pointer and Whitehorn hit two foul shots with 19 seconds left to make it 65-59.

Cotton's 3-pointer with 13 seconds left pulled the Indians to within 65-62 but the Eagles iced the victory from the charity stripe as Heard hit one of two with 12 seconds left and Hemphill made a pair with 3.6 seconds to go.