INDIANS' UPSET BID FALLS JUST SHORT; SEMO DROPS SEASON OPENER 62-59 AT COLORADO

BOULDER, Colo. -- Southeast Missouri State University's basketball team did not win its season opener Sunday night, but the Indians no doubt still earned all kinds of respect.

Playing their first official game ever under head coach Gary Garner, the Indians took Big 12 Conference member Colorado to the wire before suffering a 62-59 defeat in front of 2,722 fans at the Coors Events Center.

The Indians led by 11 points midway through the first half and had a seven-point lead early in the second half. They were still ahead by two points with just under five minutes to play and had a chance to tie at the end but a pair of 3-point shots went off the mark.

"I'm just really proud of them," said Garner of his players. "They're just exhausted. They can't hardly take another breath. They just really played hard. I can't ask them to play any harder.

"We constantly preach to play hard and play together, like a family, and if they do that good things will follow. The effort we got from every player was tremendous."

But Garner added that he doesn't just want his team to be satisfied with playing a major program close.

"The most important thing I told them was don't ever be satisfied being close," he said. "You can't accept losing. You live with it and we're disappointed, but we don't accept it."

Southeast's brand-new backcourt of Cory Johnson and Kahn Cotton combined for 29 points to lead the Indians. Johnson, a junior-college transfer, hit five of nine 3-pointers for all of his 15 points while Cotton, a transfer from Idaho State, hit four of eight 3-pointers and scored 14 points.

Demetrius Watson came off the bench and contributed 10 points for the Indians. Bud Eley, Southeast's 6-foot-10 center, was held to just six points and fouled out with 4:07 left.

Eley, Watson and David Montgomery all had seven rebounds as the Indians held a 38-35 edge on the boards against the bigger Buffaloes.

Colorado, which went 22-10 last year and made the NCAA Tournament for its best season since 1969, got 14 points and 12 rebounds from Ronnie DeGray. Charlie Melvin, the Buffs' 6-10 center who battled Eley all night, added 13 points.

After trailing 6-2 early, the Indians took their first lead of the contest on Johnson's 3-pointer that made it 11-8 with 14:30 left.

The Indians stretched their advantage to 22-11 with eight minutes left when Watson's driving basket capped a 14-3 run. The 11-point margin was the biggest of the game for either team.

Southeast later led 27-18 before CU went on a 10-0 run to go ahead 28-27. The Buffs built their advantage to 31-28 but could not deter the Indians. Cotton's drive with 30 seconds left gave Southeast a 35-33 lead, which the Indians carried into the break.

The Indians built their biggest lead of the second half at 45-38 as Dewayne Saulsberry hit a basket and free throw with 14 minutes left.

CU used an 8-0 run to go ahead 46-45 and the game remained extremely tight the rest of the way, with neither team leading by more than three points.

Southeast gained its last lead of the night with 4:45 left when Cotton hit a 3-pointer to make it 58-56.

DeGray's jumper at the 3:45 mark tied things at 58-58 and he hit two free throws less than a minute later to put CU ahead for good at 60-58.

Watson's free throw at the 1:30 mark made it 60-59. Southeast had a chance to go ahead with under one minute left but Calvert White missed a shot.

Howard Frier made two free throws with 26 seconds remaining to put the Buffs ahead 62-59.

The Indians called a timeout with 16 seconds left. They ended up getting off two 3-pointers in an attempt to tie the contest, but both Cotton and Johnson were off the mark.

Southeast's next game will be Friday night when Central Methodist visits the Show Me Center to open the Indians' home schedule.