RACERS' HOME STREAK SKIDS TO A HALT; SE RALLIES FOR 84-78 WIN OVER MURRAY ST.

MURRAY, Ky. -- Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team finally beat Murray State -- and Gary Garner wasn't even there to see it.

The visiting Indians rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit for an improbable 84-78 victory Saturday night.

An enthusiastic crowd of 6,640 at the Regional Special Events Center saw Southeast end a 15-game losing streak against the Racers, the Indians posting their first victory over MSU since 1992.

And the Indians, winning in Murray for the first time since 1945 (although the teams didn't play each other for a number of years), also ended the Racers' nation's best 47-game home winning streak.

"I don't even know what to say," said Southeast forward Roderick Johnson. "It feels like there's a big monkey off my back."

Said Southeast forward Mike Branson, mindful of the fact the Racers beat the Indians twice on buzzer-beating shots last season, "I've been waiting for this. All I can say is, it's sweet revenge."

The Indians improved to 12-3 overall and took over first place in the Ohio Valley Conference at 5-1. The Racers fell to 10-5 overall and 3-1 in the OVC.

But, with 12:45 remaining in the second half, the Racers looked like they were headed for yet another win over the Indians.

It was at this point that Garner, the Indians' head coach, was hit with his second technical and an automatic ejection. MSU guard Aubrey Reese the hero on those two buzzer-beating wins against Southeast last year hit both free throws after the technical, giving the Racers a 55-43 lead.

As Garner grabbed his sports jacket and headed to the locker room, he was hit with a shower of boos by the Racers' fans.

Garner's first technical, at the 13:12 mark, had come with Southeast trailing 47-43. Reese, who led all scorers with 29 points, hit both free throws and a basket, then MSU got a steal and basket as the Racers began to pull away.

"I don't think I deserved it," said Garner of the first technical, which came after he apparently only mildly protested what he thought was a traveling call. The second technical and ejection came after Garner appeared to protest the first technical not all that vehemently.

In any event, it was left up to Southeast assistant coach Tom Schuberth -- along with the rest of the staff -- to direct the Indians over the final 12:45.

Asked what he told the team following Garner's ejection, Schuberth said, "I just said let's try and chip away, take it one possession at a time. Any time you lose your head coach, the team wants to rally around it. I honestly believed we'd win it."

Southeast point guard Michael Stokes said Schuberth actually got the Indians fired up.

"Coach Schu really got us hyped," said Stokes. "He helped us out a lot."

Whatever happened, something certainly clicked in the Indians, who had played a solid first half and led by 10 points a few times before seeing MSU pull to within 35-33 at the break.

Immediately after Garner's ejection, Southeast answered with a 10-0 run, getting a Stokes 3-pointer, a Johnson basket inside, a Branson 17-footer and a Branson 3-pointer.

In a matter of less than three minutes, the Indians had pulled to within 55-53 and they were hungry for more.

After MSU went back up 57-53, Branson hit a jumper, guard Antonio Short made one of two free throws and then Johnson scored inside with 8:59 left to put the Indians ahead 58-57.

Southeast would never again trail or be tied. The Indians kept on coming, Johnson hitting one of two free throws, Short nailing a jumper and Johnson scoring on a follow shot with 7:08 left to complete another 10-0 run and put the Tribe up 63-57.

At this point, the Indians had all the momentum and they kept scoring almost at will. When center Brian Bunche got a layup off a court-length pass from Stokes, Southeast led 76-67 with 2:39 remaining.

But everybody in the building knew the Racers -- who can score points in bunches -- would come storming back, and they did.

A Reese basket with 1:33 left pulled MSU to within 76-72, then another Reese bucket at the 1:09 mark trimmed Southeast's lead to 77-74.

Then came a sequence that probably kept the Racers from having any solid chance at a comeback victory.

After a Southeast turnover, the Racers had possession still down by three. But Marlon Towns was hit with a technical for apparently taunting Johnson.

Branson hit one of two free throws with 51 seconds left to put the Indians up 78-74 and Stokes made two foul shots five seconds later for an 80-74 lead.

The Racers got within three points once more on Ray Cunningham's follow shot with 25 seconds left, but Branson made two free throws and Stokes hit one of two foul shots to seal the victory.

As the final buzzer sounded, the Indians celebrated briefly on the court and then raced to their locker room, where they were met by a jubilant Garner, who hugged just about everybody.

"I'll get ejected every time if that's what it takes," said Garner with a grin. "I'm just really proud of Tom and all my assistants.

"I felt we had a great game plan, and to come back like we did says so much about the character of this team."

Said Schuberth, "So many guys did a great job. It's an unbelievable victory for us."

Branson led the way offensively with 19 points, 15 coming in the second half. Johnson and Short both scored 17 points while Stokes had 15 points and six assists.

Bunche grabbed eight rebounds and got six points while Nyah Jones came off the bench to score eight key first-half points as he and Short (eight first-half points) helped the Indians start strong.

"We just had to step up our intensity and play defense," said Short of the Indians' second-half comeback.

Said Bunche of the wild happenings in the second half, "We knew we had to come together as a family. It was wild, but we came together and won the game."

But how the Indians actually won will remain a mystery to Garner until he is able to watch the film.

"I can't wait to see how we did it," he said with a laugh.