Panthers blister Indians

It's now official -- Southeast Missouri State University is going to have to scramble just to qualify for the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.

Tuesday night's lackluster home performance against Eastern Illinois pretty much doomed the Indians to that fate.

The Indians, playing about as poorly defensively as coach Gary Garner can remember, were scorched for 69.6 percent shooting from the field as the Panthers posted an 89-85 victory in front of 3,456 fans at the Show Me Center.

Southeast (10-12, 3-8) and EIU (5-16, 3-8) are tied for 10th -- or 11th, depending on how you want to look at it -- out of 11 OVC teams. Only the top eight qualify for the conference tournament.

"It's very disappointing," said an obviously distressed Garner, whose squad has five regular-season games remaining. "Now we'll have to scramble just to make the tournament."

Said junior forward Dainmon Gonner: "It'll be rough, but we still have to keep playing and fighting."

The Indians didn't appear to have much fight Tuesday, particularly in the early going, which disappointed Garner the most. He warned his players that EIU would not be the same team that lost to Southeast by 20 points on Jan. 13 in Charleston, Ill.

"We were very flat," Garner said. "I was worried all week because we had beaten them by 20 at their place, they were in last place, we had just played Murray State so tough. ...

"I worked my butt off to get them to know how important this game was. I guess I didn't do a good enough job."

Gonner said the fault lies with the players.

"I think we thought they were going to lay down," Gonner said. "Coach kept telling us all week that this was their season and they'd be ready. But we knew we'd beaten them by 20 points on their court and we thought it was going to be easy."

The Panthers took control from the outset -- getting just about any shot they wanted, from layups to wide-open jumpers -- to build an early 23-15 lead and set the tone for what would be an uphill struggle for the Indians, who never led the entire night and were tied just three times, all late in the first half.

EIU led 45-36 at halftime, thanks to 79.2 percent shooting (19 of 24). The Panthers went up by 12 points early in the second half before Southeast cut it to one on a Gonner basket with 7:37 remaining, but EIU regained control and hit more than enough free throws down the stretch to hold off the Indians.

The Panthers made 32 of 46 shots in the game -- most of them wide open, including numerous layups. As testimony to how well they were running their offense, they attempted just four 3-pointers all night, making three. EIU entered the contest as one of the OVC's lowest-rated offensive teams, averaging just 67.7 points per game on 43.4 percent shooting.

"We weren't communicating, we weren't talking, we weren't switching, no ball pressure, nothing. We were just standing," Gonner said.

Said Garner: "We were just not very good defensively, although they shot the ball extremely well and you have to give them credit. Of course, we gave them so many open shots."

Senior center Jesse Mackinson made 12 of 14 field goals and scored a career-high 29 points. He was deadly with his patented jumper from just inside the 3-point line along with routine shots around the basket.

"I was getting good looks tonight, my teammates were setting screens and once you get in a rhythm, it's a lot easier," Mackinson said.

Junior forward Aaron Patterson hit seven of nine shots and scored 16 points.

"We just kept moving and cutting hard and finding guys open," Patterson said. "I don't think Jesse missed a jumper all night."

Gonner, Southeast's Copi-Rite player of the game, led the Indians with 23 points. Senior center Brandon Griffin had 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Junior guard Mike Nelke added 15 points.

Southeast trailed 85-76 after Mackinson made two free throws with 37 seconds left. Nelke buried two 3-pointers that helped Southeast close within 88-85 with 10 seconds left, but Mackinson's free throw a second later made sure the Indians would have no miracle comeback.