NO NIT BERTH FOR SOUTHEAST

Even though they had their best-ever season on the Division I level, Southeast Missouri State University's basketball Indians will not get a chance to extend the campaign.

Southeast was passed over for the 32-team National Invitation Tournament field that was announced late Sunday night.

So now the Indians' season -- which featured a 20-9 record, a second-place Ohio Valley Conference finish and a stunning loss to Murray State in the OVC Tournament title game -- is officially over.

The Indians were ever so close to earning the school's first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament berth last Sunday when they led Murray State by a point with five seconds left. But Aubrey Reese went the length of the court and threw in an unbelievable running one-hander at the buzzer to give the Racers the OVC's automatic NCAA tourney berth.

Of the 32 teams picked for the NIT, only four had more wins than Southeast. Four other squads matched the Indians' 20 victories. The best record in the field is 24-8 by Old Dominion. The worst record is 15-15, by both Georgetown and Georgia Tech.

Southeast coach Gary Garner was out of town on a recruiting trip Sunday and unavailable for comment.

The complete NIT pairings are in the `Scoreboard' section on this page.