INDIANS WHIP PANTHERS AND ARRANGE MORE; SE HAMMERS OUT 92-70 WIN

All in all, Southeast Missouri State University's basketball team couldn't have picked a better way to enter the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

The Indians used a big second half to rout Eastern Illinois 92-70 Saturday night in front of 6,434 fans at the Show Me Center.

Southeast, by winning its third straight game, improved to 18-8 overall and ended OVC regular-season play at a second-place 15-3. Both records are team bests since moving to Division I and the OVC eight years ago.

Now the Indians can set their sights on the OVC Tournament -- and, as it turns out, a rematch with Eastern Illinois.

Southeast, the No. 2 seed, will play host to No. 7 EIU at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in a first-round tournament game. The winner moves on to the OVC semifinals in Nashville, Tenn.

Indians' coach Gary Garner was elated with the lopsided victory. But in the days leading up to the game, he said he hoped Southeast would not match up with the Panthers again in the league tourney.

"I couldn't ask for any more as far as momentum going into the tournament," said Garner moments after the game -- and before he found out the Indians have to meet the Panthers again in a few days. "We talked all week about how we had second place clinched and we really wanted to finish strong going into the tournament.

"It was a great team effort, especially on the defensive end of the floor. And it wasn't just one or two guys playing good. Everybody really played well and contributed."

EIU (13-15, 8-10 OVC) hung tough in the first half and trailed just 30-27 at the break.

The Panthers tied the contest at 31-31 early in the second half -- but then the Indians broke loose. Southeast used an 11-0 run to take control and the rest of the contest was a rout, with the Indians leading by as many as 24 points down the stretch.

"It was one of our better halves of the year," said Garner of the Indians' explosion over the final 20 minutes.

Southeast outscored EIU 62-43 in the second half as the Indians shot a sizzling 74 percent (17 of 23) from the field over the last 20 minutes.

Cory Johnson and Bud Eley -- two of the Indians' four seniors -- led the way offensively with 17 points apiece. Eley, who hit six of seven shots from the field, just missed his 17th double-double of the season as he pulled down nine rebounds. Johnson hit three of five 3-pointers.

"It was a big game for us," said Johnson. "Coach talked all week about how we really needed this game for momentum going into the tournament. Now we'll have a really good feeling for Tuesday night."

Roderick Johnson, who matched Eley by hitting six of seven shots, scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Senior Kahn Cotton added 15 points and a team-high four assists.

"We knew we needed to have momentum going into the tournament. Coach stressed that before the game and at halftime," said Cotton. "We played a good game. They hit a lot of tough shots in the first half, but we really got going in the second half."

Brian Bunche came off the bench to score eight points and grab seven rebounds while freshman Fred Abraham had a strong game off the bench with six points and three assists.

Kyle Hill led the Panthers with 25 points. Marc Polite and Jack Owens both added 12 while Merv Joseph had 10.

"Hill, Polite and Owens are very good players and they're a really well coached team," Garner said. "We just really played well in the second half."

Southeast missed all six of its 3-point attempts in the opening half. But the Indians made all six of their 3-pointers in the second half and didn't miss much of anything on their way to the lopsided victory.

But Garner has a right to be leery about a rematch so soon. Southeast has beaten EIU twice already this season and the theory is that it's hard to beat a team three times.

Tuesday night, the Indians will see if they can get it done.