Indians turn up pressure against Watson, UMKC

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Not letting Michael Watson beat them was the primary objective for Southeast Missouri State University's Indians Saturday night.

Mission accomplished.

The Indians used a variety of players to harass the nation's leading scorer and posted their first true road victory of the season, beating the University of Missouri-Kansas City 66-58 at Municipal Auditorium.

Southeast improved to 4-4 and dropped UMKC to 0-6. The Indians did win an earlier game away from home, but that triumph over Wisconsin-Milwaukee was at the neutral-site Tulane Hoops Classic.

"It's always a really satisfying feeling when you can win a road game because it's not easy to win on the road in college basketball," Southeast coach Gary Garner said. "I'm really proud of our players for the effort they gave, and the poise they showed."

Earning special praise were several Indians who took turns trying to slow down Watson, a 6-foot-1 junior guard who entered the contest averaging 31.4 points per game.

Watson did finish with 28 points, but hit just seven of 22 shots from the field. Southeast guards Derek Winans, Brett Hale and Kevin Roberts did the bulk of the defensive work on Watson. Roberts actually got the assignment more than anybody after Winans picked up two early fouls guarding Watson and Hale suffered a back injury early in the second half that forced him to miss the remainder of the contest.

"We just wanted to try and make it as tough as possible on him," said Roberts, who added six assists with no turnovers. "He's a great player and he's really hard to guard, but I thought we did a pretty good job."

Garner certainly had no complaints.

"I thought all the players we had on Watson really worked hard to stay with him as much as they could," Garner said. "He's a tremendous athlete and a great player. We just didn't want him to beat us singlehandedly."

The Indians also succeeded in another area Garner said would be a big key -- outside shooting. Southeast got plenty of good looks from long range against UMKC's zone defense and the Indians were 9-of-22 on 3-point attempts.

"We knew we'd have to shoot the ball pretty well and I thought we did for the most part," Garner said.

Forward Damarcus Hence and Winans did most of the offensive damage for the Indians, with 25 and 20 points, respectively.

Hence, who surpassed his previous career high of 24 points, hit 10 of 21 shots, including two of five 3-pointers. Winans shot 6 of 11, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range.

"My shot felt good tonight," Hence said. "We needed this win bad."

The game began ominously for the Indians after they missed five shots and had two turnovers on their first six possessions. But the Kangaroos were only able to build a 4-0 lead during that time.

There were several early lead changes and ties before Southeast began to take charge. A Winans jumper with 9:31 remaining in the first half gave the Indians a 15-13 lead and they never trailed again.

Hence drilled a 3-pointer 2:35 into the second half as Southeast opened the biggest margin at 40-29. The Indians spent the rest of the contest fending off several UMKC rallies.

A 7-0 run pulled the Kangaroos to within 42-41 with more than 13 minutes remaining, but Hence answered with seven straight points as the Indians moved ahead 49-41.

UMKC closed to within four points twice, the final time at 51-47. But reserve guard Demetrius King -- who had been scoreless to that point -- gave Southeast a huge lift as he knocked down consecutive 3-pointers for a 57-47 advantage with just under four minutes to go.

"It felt good to contribute," King said.

Said Garner, "Those two shots by Demetrius were absolutely huge. We really needed those."

King turned in another key play down the stretch. After UMKC narrowed the deficit to 57-51, King was fouled shooting a 3-pointer with 2:11 left. He hit all three free throws for some breathing room. King finished with 10 points.

The Indians iced the victory from the free-throw line.

"It's a big win for us," Winans said. "To go on the road and win, this should give us a lot of confidence."

Southeast out-rebounded UMKC 43-33 led by eight rebounds apiece by Winans and Tim Scheer.

mmishow@semissourian.com

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