INDIANS WIN FOURTH STRAIGHT

Drew DeMond has become a fan favorite of Southeast Missouri State University basketball fans over the past two seasons primarily because of his shot-blocking ability that has made him one of the Ohio Valley Conference's leaders in that department.

But the sophomore forward's offense has also started to draw rave reviews in recent weeks and Thursday night it reached a new level.

DeMond scored 19 points -- surpassing his previous career high by six -- to help lead the Indians past Eastern Kentucky 81-70 in front of 4,80 fans at the Show Me Center.

The Indians, who have now won a season-high four straight games, improved to 17-11 overall and 7-8 in OVC play. They are all alone in fifth place heading into Saturday night's regular-season finale against visiting Morehead State.

EKU, which had already been assured of a last-place finish in the nine-team OVC, fell to 7-18 overall and 1-14 in league action.

"In practice I've been scoring a lot more and getting in a rhythm," said DeMond, who hit seven of eight field-goal attempts and also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. "I feel a lot more comfortable with my offense."

The 6-foot-7 DeMond is an impressive leaper who has had quite a few dunks this season. He threw down a pair Thursday -- including one in the first half that seemed to jump-start the lethargic Indians, who fell behind 14-6 early.

DeMond, stationed to the right of the basket, make a quick move underneath to the opposite side and rattled home a one-handed jam that sparked the Indians, who went on to post a 14-0 run.

"It seemed to spark the team," said a grinning DeMond when asked about the jam. "We were behind and I think it helped get us going."

Another DeMond slam -- which came after he received a bounce pass in stride from point guard Michael Stokes, who delivered the ball from around mid-court -- started a big second-half Southeast run.

EKU, which trailed by 10 points late in the first half, had pulled to within 33-28 by halftime. The Colonels sliced Southeast's lead to 41-39 early in the second half, but DeMond's jam began a 13-0 Indian burst that turned the contest into a rout.

Southeast led by 24 points in the late going before a last EKU flurry made the final score a bit more respectable.

"We had a slow start, but after that, I thought we played pretty good, until the last few minutes," said Southeast coach Gary Garner.

Stokes, who is wrapping up a brilliant two-year career with the Indians, led Southeast with 21 points. He also had nine assists while playing the entire 40 minutes, largely because backup point guard Joel Shelton was out with the flu and senior guard Amory Sanders went down during the game with an injury that was diagnosed as a torn tendon in the pinky finger of his shooting hand. His status for Saturday is questionable.

Tim Scheer hit four of five shots and added 10 points off the bench.

The Indians also got a big lift from center Nyah Jones, who has struggled for much of the season. Jones came off the bench to score seven points and grab six rebounds. The senior, who hit three of four field-goal attempts, drew several major rounds of applause from the home crowd.

"We had a lot of people play well, but I thought Drew, Stokie and Nyah really played well," said Garner. "Nyah played his best game in a long time. The crowd is wanting him to do well so hard. They really got behind him.

"Nyah is such a great young man. He's had a tough season, but he comes to the practice floor every day, he never whimpers, he always gives his best effort."

Said Jones, "I've had some good practices lately and I think it helped my confidence. I'm glad I could contribute now, when it really counts toward the end of the season."

EKU's Lavoris Jerry hit five of nine 3-pointers and led all scorers with 23 points. The Colonels also got 13 points from Spanky Parks and 10 from Clinton Sims.

"Southeast Missouri is a better team than we are. They have more talented, they're deeper and more experienced," said EKU coach Travis Ford, a former Missouri and Kentucky standout player. "But I thought our guys played extremely hard. We just couldn't make shots."

The Colonels shot just 37.3 percent from the field while the Indians were at 50.9 percent for their fourth straight game over 50 percent.