INDIANS WARY OF STRUGGLING COLONELS

The standings say that Eastern Kentucky is hands down the worst men's basketball team in the Ohio Valley Conference.

And the Colonels have already been eliminated from contention for a spot in the eight-team OVC Tournament as they are assured of finishing last among the league's nine squads.

But Southeast Missouri State University coach Gary Garner cautions that it would be foolish for the Indians to take the Colonels lightly in tonight's 7:30 tipoff at the Show Me Center.

"Eastern Kentucky has good enough athletes that they're capable of beating any team in the league," said Garner. "And we were tied with them late at their place earlier in the year, so we can't take them lightly. We have to be ready for a tough game."

Southeast, riding a three-game winning streak for only the second time this season, is 16-11 overall and 6-8 in the OVC. The Indians are tied for fifth place with Morehead State, which visits the Show Me Center Saturday night in the regular-season finale.

EKU, 7-17 overall under first-year coach Travis Ford, is just 1-13 in OVC play. But the Colonels broke a 28-game conference losing streak last Thursday when they rallied past Tennessee-Martin.

Lavoris Jerry, a 6-foot-3 senior, is the Colonels' leading scorer at 16.7 points per game.

Also averaging in double figures for EKU are 6-3 junior Spanky Parks (13.3 ppg), 6-2 senior John White (12.9 ppg) and 6-3 junior Clinton Sims (10.6 ppg).

In the earlier meeting against EKU, on Jan. 29 in Richmond, Ky., the teams were tied 59-59 with less than a minute to play. But Daniel Weaver's basket with 38 seconds left put the Indians ahead to stay and they hit four free throws in the closing seconds to pull out a 65-59 victory.

While EKU has nothing left to play for except to hopefully build toward next season, the Indians are trying to continue building momentum and confidence heading into Tuesday's opening round of the OVC Tournament.

Garner has emphasized how important it is for the Indians to enter the league tourney with five straight wins.

"If we could win our last five games (of the regular season), then we would really have a lot of confidence wherever we go play in the first round of the conference tournament," Garner said. "But we know we're going to have to play well these last two games because Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State are both capable of beating us if we don't."