INDIANS' SHARPSHOOTERS AMBUSH GOVS; SOUTHEAST REMAINS HOT WITH 81-57 VICTORY

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University's Indians might have played a better half of road basketball in recent years.

Then again, maybe they haven't.

In a dominating, nearly flawless performance, the Indians outscored Austin Peay 50-28 in the second half Monday night to post a surprisingly lopsided 81-57 victory in front of 2,357 fans at Dave Aaron Arena.

"If you had told me we'd be up two at the half and end up winning by 24, I'd have asked you what you've been smoking," said a grinning Southeast coach Gary Garner. "On the road against a quality team, I'd have taken a one-point win and 10 overtimes."

The win, Southeast's third straight -- all by at least 19 points -- was an extremely important one as far as the Ohio Valley Conference race goes.

Southeast is now 11-10 overall and 7-6 in OVC play as the Indians moved one-half game ahead of Austin Peay (11-9, 6-6) for fourth place in the 10-team league.

The top four teams in the final league standings earn a home game for the first round of the OVC Tournament. Southeast has now beaten Austin Peay in both meetings this year, meaning the Indians will own the tie-breaker edge over the Governors in case the squads finish deadlocked.

"This is one we really had to have," said Garner. "Maybe the biggest thing about this game is it should do wonders for our confidence. You never know, but it may be one of those games that could catapult us."

Cory Johnson led the way offensively with 23 points as he hit seven of 12 3-point shots. Johnson is 17 of 27 on 3-pointers in his last three games.

Kahn Cotton continued his recent exceptional point guard play with 19 points, six assists and just two turnovers.

David Montgomery, dominating inside, hit nine of 12 shots as he scored 18 points and also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.

"We're just shooting the ball real good right now and that's giving me plenty of room inside," said Montgomery. "To come here and win like this feels real good. We didn't expect to win by this much, but we're playing good."

Freshman Nathan Owen added 11 points, marking his third straight game in double figures since moving into the starting lineup after Bud Eley and Demetrius Watson both went down with injuries.

"We've just been working real hard and coming together as a team," Owen said.

Calvert White scored just four points but dished out six assists to match Cotton's team-leading total.

"All our guys really know their roles and they're just playing so well right now," Garner said. "Our togetherness is just so great. It has been all year.

"I know I've said this a lot, but Kahn is really playing great. We've really opened the court up and Kahn and Calvert are doing a great job of penetrating and finding the open man. Cory, Nathan and Kahn are really shooting the ball well from outside. And David is doing a great job of playing the post."

The Indians shot an amazing 69 percent in the second half (20 of 29), including 60 percent from 3-point range (nine of 15). They also had only three turnovers in the final 20 minutes.

For the game, Southeast hit 14 of 28 3-pointers, making the Indians 42 of 82 on treys in their last three games.

The 14 3-pointers marked the most ever by an Austin Peay opponent at Dave Aaron Arena. Monday's loss also marked only the Govs' second defeat in their last 20 home games.

"I think in the second half our small lineup was to our advantage," said White. "They were bigger than us, but they weren't able to keep up with us on the break."

The Indians, getting 11 points from Johnson and 10 from Montgomery, led 31-29 at halftime after an opening 20 minutes that saw several lead changes.

Southeast quickly assumed command of the contest at the outset of the second half, getting 3-pointers from Johnson and Owen in the first two minutes to open up the game's biggest lead at 37-29.

And it would only get better for the Indians after that.

Austin Peay pulled to within 45-40, but the Indians then used an 8-0 run to really take control.

After a 12-footer by Montgomery, Owen got a layup on the break, White drilled a 15-footer and White put in a follow shot. All of a sudden the Indians led 53-40 with just over 12 minutes remaining.

The Govs managed to get within nine points a short time later but the Indians continued to pour it on after that.

Johnson's 3-pointer put Southeast ahead 56-44 with 10 minutes left and another Johnson 3-pointer made it 59-46 with eight minutes remaining.

Cotton's 3-pointer put the Indians on top 64-48 with just over six minutes left and the Govs were reeling fast.

With just over four minutes to go, Cotton bombed in a long 3-pointer with the shot clock just about to expire. That put the Indians ahead 72-50 and pretty well typified the kind of half they were having.

Montgomery's dunk with 2:30 left capped an 11-0 run as the Indians opened up the night's biggest lead at 78-50.

"Austin Peay is a very good basketball team and to beat them like this is a really great feeling," said Garner.

Now the Indians will try to keep that good feeling going as they face two more road games this week, facing Tennessee Tech Thursday night and Middle Tennessee Saturday afternoon.