NEW HANDS HELP SE TEAR APART DREAMBUILDERS

As far as exhibition games go, Southeast Missouri State University basketball coach Gary Garner got exactly what he was looking for -- a win and the chance to play plenty of people.

The Indians cruised past the outmanned Dreambuilders, a group of former collegiate players from Des Moines, Iowa, 81-60 Thursday night in front of 3,571 fans at the Show Me Center.

Southeast will have one more dress rehearsal -- Monday night when a team from Bulgaria comes to Cape Girardeau -- before opening the season Nov. 14 at home against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

"There were a lot of good signs tonight," said Garner, beginning his second season at Southeast. "Naturally, there were some bad signs. But there were a lot of positives.

"I told the team before the game that we'll make some mistakes because we've got a lot of new players. But I definitely saw more positives than negatives tonight."

Any Southeast fan can clearly see that Garner and his staff have quite a bit more talent to work with this year -- and that's even with returning guards Kahn Cotton and Nathan Owen in street clothes Thursday because of injuries.

Cotton has barely practiced so far as he continues to be bothered by knee problems that have plagued him since the summer. Garner is hopeful his senior will be able to begin working out next week.

Owen injured a toe in practice earlier this week but it is not considered serious. Garner said the sophomore should be fine.

"We definitely need to get Kahn and Nathan back out there," Garner said.

A few veterans along with a few newcomers fueled the easy victory.

As for the vets, senior center Bud Eley, the Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Player of the Year, scored 13 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, blocked five shots and dished out five assists.

Senior guard Cory Johnson, who hit 95 3-pointers last year to set the Southeast single-season school record, was up to his old bombs-away tricks with 16 points on 5-for-10 3-point shooting.

Senior forward Demetrius Watson chipped in 12 points while sophomore guard Matt Morris added six.

A trio of newcomers -- junior forwards Mike Branson and Roderick Johnson and sophomore guard Jeramy Biles -- were particularly impressive.

Branson, an All-American at Meramec Community College in St. Louis last year, scored 10 points and hit two of four 3-pointers.

Johnson, who sat out last season after transferring from Wisconsin-Milwaukee, was extremely active with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Biles, a former Charleston High standout who sat out last year after transferring from Saint Louis, scored eight points, grabbed five rebounds and had three assists as he handled the point deftly and often spectacularly. Biles also hit both of his 3-point attempts.

"I'm very happy with Rod, Mike and Jeramy," said Garner. "The thing you have to remember is that Rod and Jeramy have basically been out a year and a half so they're still rusty. They'll get a lot better."

Juco transfer Brian Bunche, a fourth newcomer who is being counted on inside, struggled with his shooting but pulled down eight rebounds as Southeast outrebounded the Dreambuilders 56 to 36.

"The thing I really liked is we were very unselfish. We really played as a team," Garner said. "If we keep doing that, we're going to keep getting better."

Southeast scored the game's first nine points and led by as many as 25 points in the first half. It was 47-33 at halftime.

"The first eight minutes, I thought our defense was really good," said Garner. "Then we kind of lost our intensity."

Things never got close in the second half as the Indians cruised.