Redhawks snatch win

~ Southeast rallied for a 75-68 road victory over South Dakota State.

BROOKINGS, S.D. -- Southeast Missouri State coach Gary Garner knows the Redhawks still have a long way to go before becoming a good team.

But they no doubt took a big step in that direction Thursday night.

Three days after suffering a surprising home loss to IPFW, the Redhawks played their first road game of the season and rallied from a 13-point deficit to clip South Dakota State 75-68.

"We're still not even close to being a good basketball team," Garner said after the Redhawks improved to 2-1. "But this is really big. To go on the road and win, it's a first for this team. Winning on the road helps everybody."

Said junior guard Terrick Willoughby, "It's a huge win. We should be 3-0, but we can't get that one from the other night back. This will do a lot for our confidence, to win on the road. And we beat a good team. They were tough."

Willoughby, Southeast's leading returning scorer from last year at 9.8 points per game, had produced just 13 total points in the first two contests this season.

But Willoughby was noticeably more aggressive Thursday night as he scored 14 points, the majority coming on four 3-pointers in six attempts.

"I had to be a little more aggressive," Willoughby said. "I wasn't aggressive enough the last two games."

Said Garner, "We need Terrick to play like that. I saw more energy, more excitement from him. He played well."

So did junior college transfer guard David Johnson, who made his first Southeast start after Garner shuffled his lineup a bit, starting Willoughby at the point in place of sophomore Paul Paradoski, although Paradoski wound up playing 25 minutes.

Johnson, who missed Southeast's last game after suffering a blow to the head during practice, was arguably the Redhawks' most valuable player against SDSU. He had team highs of 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals. He hit three of six 3-pointers, making him six of 11 from beyond the arc this season

"He really played well," Garner said.

Said Johnson: "I was real excited when I found out I was starting. And this is going to be a real confidence boost for us, to go on the road and win."

Senior guard Roy Booker, Southeast's leading scorer in the first two games with 42 points, struggled with his shooting and had 12 points.

"It's good to win when Roy doesn't have a big game," Garner said. "It's nice when Roy scores, but I don't think we have to have that for us to win."

Junior college transfer forward Andrais Thornton scored all 11 of his points in the second half. He also had five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Junior college transfer guard Eric Burtin scored nine points on three 3-pointers, as he missed just two from long range.

Rugged junior forward Ben Beran led the Jackrabbits with 20 points. SDSU is 1-3, with the other losses at nationally ranked Kentucky and Illinois.

"They're a good basketball team," Garner said. "They don't lose at home very much."

As was the case in their first two games, the Redhawks started slow and dug themselves an early hole.

SDSU scored the first four points, led 14-4 barely five minutes in and built a 22-9 advantage with under eight minutes remaining in the first half.

"We've fallen behind every time," Johnson said. "We've got to fix that."

But after hitting just six of their first 17 shots, the Redhawks finally began to click. They wound up shooting a season-high 47.4 percent, including a sizzling 13 of 24 from 3-point range for 54.2 percent.

"Our offense was a little better. Our shot selection was better," Garner said. "We really shot the ball well from 3-point. We got really wide open 3-pointers."

Trailing 39-31 at halftime, the Redhawks battled back and finally took their first lead of the night when Thornton scored inside to make it 58-56 with 9:59 remaining.

SDSU led once more, at 64-63, and the teams were tied 66-66 with under four minutes remaining when the Redhawks finally took control for good.

Willougby's 3-pointer with 3:11 left put Southeast ahead to stay at 69-66.

It was 69-68 when Burtin drilled a 3-pointer at the 1:14 mark for a 72-68 lead.

The Jackrabbits went scoreless for the final 2:10, and Southeast iced the victory from the free-throw line.

Booker hit two free throws with 26 seconds left, making it 74-68, and Thornton hit one of two with 13 seconds to play.

"We made a lot of big plays toward the end," Willougby said. "I thought we showed a lot of poise."

After having 13 first-half turnovers, the Redhawks committed just four second-half turnovers.

And after SDSU shot 51.7 percent in the first half, the Jackrabbits hit just 29.3 percent in the final period.

"Our intensity was better in the second half, and we took care of the ball better," Garner said.

The biggest negative for Southeast was SDSU's 51-33 rebounding advantage, including 26-8 on the offensive boards as the Jackrabbits turned many of their second and third chances into points.

"We got killed on the boards. They were relentless on the boards," Garner said. "But we kept fighting. We just kept fighting."

Not only does the victory help make up for Monday's disappointment, it also gives the Redhawks a nice outlook as they conclude their road trip with Sunday's 2 p.m. game at Nebraska.

Said a smiling Garner, "We've got two more days on the road before we even play Nebraska. This win will sure make those two days a lot more pleasant."