INDIANS RISE TO TOP OF OVC; SE BREEZES PAST E. KENTUCKY WITH 78-58 WIN

Don't look now, but Southeast Missouri State University's basketball Indians have stepped into uncharted territory.

The Indians' 78-58 win over Eastern Kentucky Thursday night improved their overall record to 6-2 and their Ohio Valley Conference mark to 3-0, putting them in sole possession of first place in the league, a half-game ahead of 2-0 Murray State.

Southeast's overall and conference records mark the best start for the Indians in each category since the school made the move to NCAA Division I and the OVC eight years ago.

"I didn't know that, but it's a nice accomplishment," said Southeast second-year head coach Gary Garner.

Forgive Garner if he wasn't really up on the past history of some of Southeast's teams. He was more worried about the task at hand -- mainly avoiding too much of a letdown Thursday night.

The Indians were coming off three consecutive road victories in a span of six days. Garner knew that there would be no way the Indians could reach the emotional pitch they had for impressive wins at Austin Peay, Tennessee State and Arkansas State.

Garner just wanted the Indians to get by any way they could. A 20-point victory was an added bonus.

"This is one we just wanted to get through and I'm really happy to come away with a win," he said. "We had three extremely tough games on the road and we got very emotional all three games. It's just so hard to do that a fourth time.

"I knew we wouldn't have a great performance tonight. It was our fourth game in eight days and we've been on the bus a lot. I could see we were tired. But everything considered, I'm real proud of the way we played."

The victory was fueled largely by a strong Southeast inside game, namely the one-two punch of center Bud Eley and forward Roderick Johnson.

Eley hit seven of 11 shots and scored 17 points. He also pulled down 10 rebounds and blocked six shots. In the last three games, Eley is a sizzling 19 of 24 from the field.

"Bud is really playing well," Garner said. "He's really listening. And he's got the greatest set of hands I think I've ever seen."

Johnson hit eight of 11 shots and scored 18 points. He also pulled down 10 rebounds.

"Rod rebounded like we know he can," said Garner.

Southeast's only other double-figure scorer was point guard Jeramy Biles, who came off the bench for the first time this season as Kahn Cotton got his initial start. Biles scored 10 points and had five assists.

"I thought Jeramy played really under control tonight," Garner said.

Mike Branson and Demetrius Watson both added eight points while Cotton dished out six assists.

EKU (1-5 overall, 0-3 OVC) got 16 points from Whitney Robinson.

Even though the Indians won by 20 points, the game wasn't a total blowout, although Southeast never trailed.

Two Eley baskets and a Branson 3-pointer staked the Indians to a 7-0 lead right off the bat. The Colonels managed a few ties before Branson's 3-pointer with 10:17 left in the first half gave Southeast a 19-16 lead that it would not relinquish.

Southeast led 34-27 at halftime and then scored the first six points of the second half to go up 40-27.

The Colonels managed to get within 40-34, but a 7-0 Southeast run made it 49-34 and the rout was on. Southeast led by as many as 24 points late.

"After the last three games we had, it's just good to get through this one," said Eley. "We were terrible in the first half, but we played a lot better in the second half."

Eley, a fifth-year senior, has been around the Southeast basketball program longer than any other Indian. He admits it feels good to have this kind of record -- and particularly to be leading the OVC -- but he realizes the Tribe's work is far from finished.

"It feels good, but we have to make sure we don't get the big head," he said.

Garner doesn't want his players to get the big head either. But, with no more conference games scheduled until January and with no games of any kind slated until Dec. 22, he wants them to be proud of what they've done so far.

"I told them in the locker room that we're in first place and we'll be in first place until January," Garner said. "We've played a tough schedule, and to be 6-2 overall and 3-0 in the league right now, I'm extremely proud of what we've accomplished."