NASHVILLE-BOUND INDIANS DODGE BULLET; SE ADVANCES TO SEMIS OF OVC TOURNEY 76-74

About a half-inch.

That's how close Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team came to suffering a stunning upset Tuesday night in the opening round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

But because a 3-point shot by Tennessee-Martin freshman Okechi Egbe was off the mark at the buzzer, the Indians were able to escape with a 76-74 victory in front of a disappointingly small crowd of 3,512 at the Show Me Center.

So Southeast advances, for the second straight season, to the OVC Tournament semifinals in Nashville, Tenn.

The second-seeded Indians, the league's regular-season co-champions with Murray State, will take on sixth-seeded Middle Tennessee at 7 p.m. Saturday. Middle Tennessee surprised third-seeded Tennessee Tech 87-70 Tuesday night.

"I feel very lucky," said Southeast coach Gary Garner, whose squad improved to 22-6. "Tennessee-Martin came in very determined and played extremely well. We didn't play well at all.

"Defensively, it was one of our poorest efforts of the season."

When Egbe let his shot fly from the left side just a step or two beyond the 3-point line, Garner doubted whether the Indians would be making the trip to Nashville.

"The shot looked good from where I was sitting," Garner said.

Ditto for UTM coach Bret Campbell, whose seventh-seeded squad finished the season at 10-19.

"I thought it was in," said Campbell. "We're probably a half-inch from going to Nashville."

But when Egbe's attempt bounced off the rim and harmlessly away as the buzzer sounded, the Indians who led by 15 points early in the second half were finally able to collectively breathe a heavy sigh of relief.

"All that matters is we got the win and we're going to Nashville two years in a row," said Southeast forward Roderick Johnson. "This is the playoffs and every team wants the same thing. You have to expect them to play tough."

Said Southeast guard Antonio Short with a grin, "I'm glad he (Egbe) didn't hit it. As long as we get to Nashville, that's the main thing."

Point guard Michael Stokes led the Indians offensively with 20 points, 12 coming in the second half. Stokes, who hit seven of 11 shots from the field, continued his recent sizzling 3-point shooting by making three of five from beyond the arc. He also had six assists.

"It's the playoffs, and teams are going to play tough," said Stokes. "I think we lost our intensity (after leading by 15)."

Short had a career-high 18 points, 15 coming in the opening half as he scored the Indians' first 10 points.

Johnson scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds while Mike Branson scored all 12 of his points in the second half.

The Indians also got a big lift off the bench from Drew DeMond, who was forced into major second-half minutes after centers Brian Bunche and Nyah Jones both fouled out with plenty of time remaining.

DeMond, a redshirt freshman forward, had six points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.

"I thought Drew gave us a big lift," Garner said. "For a freshman, he did very well."

Hayden Prescott led UTM with 23 points, 18 coming in the second half as he fueled the Skyhawks' comeback. Byron Benton followed with 22 points while Andrae Betts had 16 points and seven assists.

The first half was tight most of the way, but Southeast used a 7-0 run to pull away from a late 23-23 tie, and the Indians carried a 36-28 lead into the break.

Southeast started the second half strong with an 11-4 burst, capped by Branson's 15-footer that boosted the Indians into a 47-32 lead with just under 16 minutes remaining.

At that point, everybody in the Show Me Center figured the game was over. And Garner believes his players might have thought that as well.

"I think we thought we were ready to go to Nashville," he said. "We almost didn't make it."

The Skyhawks put on a furious comeback that was capped by two Benton free throws with 7:09 left that put UTM on top 57-56. It was the Skyhawks' first lead since early in the contest.

After that, the lead changed hands five times and there were two ties. Southeast's biggest lead was four points while UTM never led by more than one as the teams furiously traded pressure-packed shots.

It was 69-69 when the Indians finally took the lead for good as Branson hit one of two free throws with 1:35 remaining.

After a Johnson steal, DeMond made one of two foul shots with 1:09 left for a 71-69 lead. After a UTM miss, Short's 3-point try with the shot clock winding down was off the mark, but Johnson put in a huge follow shot with 21 seconds left to boost the Indians into a 73-69 lead.

Still, the Skyhawks were far from done. Betts hit a jumper with 14 seconds left to make it 73-71. After two Branson free throws at the 12-second mark put Southeast up 75-71, Prescott drained a huge 3-pointer with five seconds left as the Skyhawks pulled to within 75-74.

Short was immediately fouled and made one of two free throws for 76-74 lead, but the Skyhawks still had plenty of time to get off a good shot. And they did, with Egbe's 3-point try just a fraction off at the buzzer.

"We were lucky," said Garner, who added with a smile, "but Saturday, when we're playing in Nashville, nobody is going to remember the score of tonight's game."

* Tickets for the OVC Tournament semifinals and finals in Nashville will be available until 4 p.m. Thursday at the Houck Field Ticket Office.