Redhawks to say farewell to seniors, season today

~ Southeast closes out a disappointing year against Jacksonville State.

Jacksonville State's major turnaround hasn't surprised coach Mike LaPlante.

And LaPlante said what the Gamecocks went through last year is not unlike what Southeast Missouri State has endured this season.

"We were in not too dissimilar a situation that what coach [Gary] Garner is in, whether we had injuries or players leaving the team," LaPlante said.

The improved Gamecocks (14-12, 11-8 Ohio Valley Conference) and depleted Redhawks (7-19, 4-15) will close out their regular seasons tonight with a 7:30 tipoff at the Show Me Center.

JSU, which is tied for fourth place in the 11-team OVC, suffered through a nightmare of a campaign last year, finishing 7-22 overall and a last-place 2-14 in the OVC.

Because of injuries and defections, the Gamecocks went through a good part of their 2004-05 conference schedule with six scholarship players. Southeast has been down to seven available scholarship players for the past few weeks.

"Even though we lost a lot of games last year, we were in a lot of games. We just ran out of gas, we ran out of bodies," LaPlante said. "We kept the faith, that once we got our injured players back, and added some players, we could compete in this conference pretty much on a nightly basis."

The Gamecocks have done that. A year after missing the eight-team OVC tournament -- as Southeast has this season -- the Gamecocks already have a spot in next week's league tournament and are still in the running for a first-round home game, which goes to the top four finishers.

"They have really improved," Garner said. "Last year they were a lot like us. They just didn't have the bodies. But they've been one of the real surprise teams in the league."

The up-tempo Gamecocks, picked to finish 10th among 11 teams in the OVC's preseason poll, lead the OVC with an average of 76.5 points per game, although they are allowing 76.8 points a contest, which places them last in that department.

JSU is paced by two returning players and a newcomer.

Senior guard B.J. Spencer is averaging 15 points while shooting 45 percent from 3-point range.

Junior college transfer forward Courtney Bradley provides 14.9 points and 7.7 rebounds, while shooting 51.4 percent from the field.

Senior point guard Walker Russell averages 13.7 points and leads the OVC in assists at 6.7.

"Walker Russell might be the best point guard in the league. He's very good," Garner said. "They really like to get the ball up and down the floor, and he makes them go."

While JSU is gearing up for the OVC tournament, Southeast knows its miserable season will be over after tonight, although the Redhawks are coming off Thursday's 63-52 upset of second-place Samford that ended their 12-game losing streak.

LaPlante doesn't believe the Redhawks will be easy pickings as they try to send their three seniors -- Roy Booker, the OVC's leading scorer at 22.2 points per game, Waylon Francis and Ketsher Guerrier -- out on a positive note.

"It will be senior night and I'm sure they'll want to finish strong," LaPlante said. "SEMO has a great opportunity to play the role of spoiler. We were in that position last year."

After knocking off Samford, the Redhawks would like nothing better than to carry a two-game winning streak into the offseason.

"That would be so big for this team, especially for our seniors," Garner said. "The way we've struggled all year, if we could win our last two games, it would be a real testament to the way we've hung together."