INDIANS POST TEXTBOOK ROAD WIN OVER MTSU

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- There is nothing better to silence a home crowd than a dominating, wire-to-wire performance by the visiting team.

That was exactly the formula for Southeast Missouri State University's basketball Indians Monday night as they scored the game's first seven points and were in control throughout during a 61-48 win over Middle Tennessee State.

The Indians improved to 11-2 overall and kept their first-place Ohio Valley Conference record perfect at 4-0. The Raiders fell to 4-7 overall, 1-3 in league play.

"This is really a good way to start out the week," said Southeast coach Gary Garner, whose squad has three OVC road games this week. "I've always said that there is really no better feeling in basketball than winning a conference game on the road.

"I thought we really had control of the game pretty much the whole night. Middle Tennessee is a good team but we got off to a good start and never really let them get back in it. That's probably the most satisfying aspect of it."

Michael Stokes paced the Indians offensively with 15 points and he also had four assists.

Roderick Johnson had a monster night for Southeast as the senior forward scored 13 points, pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds, dished out four assists and blocked two shots.

"We always feel confident on the road," said Johnson. "We really prepare well and we come out focused. It always feels good to win on the road."

Brian Bunche added nine rebounds as the Indians won the battle of the boards 44 to 35.

"Rebounding was big tonight," Garner said. "Middle Tennessee has a pretty big team, but we were able to control the boards."

Iiro Tenngren paced the Raiders with 15 points and Lee Nosse had 10.

For the third straight OVC game, the Indians jumped out to a big early lead. And, unlike during Saturday's two-point win over Austin Peay in which Southeast led by 21 in the first half, the Indians never let the Raiders up for air.

Johnson went up strong inside to score a conventional three-point play just 32 seconds into the contest, then Stokes got a fast-break basket and Johnson hit a 10-foot bank shot for a quick 7-0 Southeast lead.

After MTSU finally got on the board, Johnson and Nyah Jones each scored from in close as the Indians went ahead 11-2.

A 3-pointer by Stokes gave the Indians a 14-4 lead six minutes into the opening half and Stokes' steal and dunk just moments later made it 16-6.

MTSU trailed 16-8 when Southeast put together a 9-0 run in a little more than two minutes.

Emmanuel McCuthison got a basket and free throw, Johnson scored inside, Bunche hit one of two foul shots and Fred Abraham drilled a 3-pointer to give the Indians their biggest first-half lead of 25-8.

The Raiders finally showed some signs of life with an 8-0 run that got them to within 30-22 with under four minutes left before halftime.

But the Indians were able to surge once again before the first half ended, Stokes scoring Southeast's final six points, including a 25-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer that put the Tribe ahead 36-24.

"The shot Stokes hit just before halftime was really big," said Garner. "We go from being nine up to 12 up and that's important."

Southeast then came out strong in the second half just as it had done in the first, scoring the initial five points -- all by Antonio Short -- to go up 41-24 and match its biggest lead of the night to that point.

MTSU used a 7-0 run to pull within 41-31, but Southeast answered back by scoring the next six points to move ahead 47-31 and effectively seal the verdict.

The Indians held the game's biggest lead at 56-38. MTSU was able to close within 59-48 in the final minute, but Southeast was never seriously threatened down the stretch.

"We've concentrated on being stronger and more aggressive when we get ahead," Johnson said. "We've lost a few leads this year, but tonight was just our night."

The Indians limited the Raiders to 30-percent shooting from the field on 16 of 54. Southeast shot 40 percent on 23 of 57.

Southeast will return to action Thursday night with a game at Tennessee-Martin.