MARTING KEEPS INDIANS 0 FOR OVERTIME; SOUTHEAST FALLS 91-82 IN 2OT

MARTIN, Tenn. -- Tennessee-Martin's sharp-shooting Skyhawks were simply too hot for Southeast Missouri State University's Indians to handle Thursday night.

The Skyhawks blistered the nets for 56 percent shooting -- including a sizzling 65 percent from 3-point range -- but they still had to go two overtimes to claim a thrilling 91-82 Ohio Valley Conference victory in front of 1,482 fans at Skyhawk Arena.

UTM improved to 6-9 overall and 5-2 in OVC play.

Southeast fell to 8-8 overall, 4-4 in the league. The Indians have suffered three of their four conference defeats in overtime, with two of them coming in double overtime.

"It's really disappointing," said Southeast coach Gary Garner. "We keep fighting and battling and coming back, but we just fall a little short."

The Skyhawks, who came into the game second in the OVC in 3-point shooting at 37 percent, were way above that figure Thursday as they made 11 of 17 from long range.

"We knew coming in that the one thing we were going to do was take the threes away from them," Garner said. "That's what's really disappointing.

"They were hot. You have to give them credit. It's hard to shoot 65 percent on threes when there's no defense out there. But we didn't do as good a job as we needed on defending the threes either."

Jason Ohlsen, a 6-foot-2 junior guard, was the hottest Skyhawk of all. He came in averaging 10 points per game but exploded for 31 points as he hit 10 of 14 shots overall, including six of 10 3-pointers.

Joe Crumby and Robin Cude both added 16 points while Ryan DeMichael added 15 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.

Cude came off the bench to hit all four of his 3-point attempts.

"Ohlsen had a great game. He's really been our most consistent shooter," said UTM coach Cal Luther. "But Cude really gave us a big lift. He hadn't been playing that much but he was a great shooter in high school."

Cory Johnson led Southeast with 22 points, but he hit only seven of 20 shots, including just six of 19 3-pointers.

Calvert White added 16 points and six assists, Kahn Cotton had 14 points and five assists and Bud Eley contributed 11 points in his second game back after missing the previous seven contests with a broken foot.

Cotton, like Johnson, struggled from the floor as he hit six of 20 shots, including two of 11 3-pointers.

The Indians set a new OVC record by attempting 40 3-point shots -- the old mark of 39 had been held by Tennessee Tech against Southeast -- but they made only nine of those.

Overall from the field, Southeast shot 37 percent on 31 of 83. UTM was 31 of 55 from the floor.

Johnson's NBA range 3-pointer with 7.7 seconds left in the second half tied the contest at 66-66 and forced overtime after UTM missed a late shot.

The Indians, after leading briefly early in the first five-minute extra period, found themselves behind 75-71 with 22 seconds left.

But White got a conventional three-point play inside with 15 seconds remaining.

Then, after UTM made just one of two free throws, David Montgomery hit a short baseline shot after an offensive rebound with 4.6 seconds left to force another overtime at 76-76.

The Indians quickly fell behind 79-76 early in the second extra session, but they scored four straight points and went ahead 80-79 when Lakeo Keller hit one of two free throws with 3:01 remaining.

Ohlsen's 3-pointer less than 30 seconds later regained the lead for the Skyhawks at 82-80 and they never trailed again.

The Indians probably figured it was not their night about a minute later when Art Castle -- who scored only six points -- threw in an improbable, off-balance shot just before the shot clock expired. That made it 84-80 with 1:40 remaining.

Two DeMichael free throws with 51 seconds left put the Skyhawks ahead 86-80. After Southeast pulled to within 86-82, UTM sealed the victory with free throws.

"It was a heck of a game," said Luther. "Anybody who loves basketball had to like that. It's a shame there weren't more people here to see it."

The Skyhawks led 34-32 at halftime even though Southeast held the lead for most of the opening 20 minutes, but never by more than six points.

UTM came out sizzling to start the second half, hitting their first four shots -- including an Ohlsen 3-pointer -- and scoring the first nine points to open up by far the game's biggest lead at 43-32.

After an 11-0 Southeast run forced a 43-43 tie, UTM came back with a 13-2 spurt to match its biggest lead at 56-45.

But the Indians were far from through. A 13-3 run, capped by Johnson's 3-pointer, pulled them to within 59-58 at the 4:25 mark.

The Indians finally grabbed their first lead of the second half when Cotton drilled a 3-pointer at the 2:56 mark to put Southeast ahead 63-61.

Ohlsen's driving layup with 2:28 left tied things at 63-63 and the Skyhawks went on to take a 66-63 lead before Johnson's 3-pointer sent the teams on to overtime.

Southeast will return to action Saturday with a 4 p.m. contest at OVC favorite Murray State.