Rivermen sink Indians

Southeast Missourian

For those who believe in omens, remember that Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team lost an exhibition game two years ago -- and wound up winning their first Ohio Valley Conference championship and reaching the NCAA Division I Tournament for the first time.

When reminded of that Thursday night, Southeast coach Gary Garner smiled, even though the Indians had just coughed up a 22-point second-half lead as they fell to Division II Missouri-St. Louis 75-72 in their exhibition opener.

"Two years ago we lost to the Dreambuilders and wound up in the NCAA Tournament. I'd take that tradeoff again," said Garner. "We're not as good as that team. But we're going to get better."

Although Garner hates to lose at anything, he didn't seem all that down following the setback in front of 2,500 fans at the Show Me Center.

"If you're pitching marbles you want to win, so it's really disappointing to lose," he said. "But it is an exhibition game and you don't get too bent out of shape. You just look at the tape and see where you can get better."

It didn't look like the Indians would have any trouble at all with the Rivermen after they blistered the nets in the first half on their way to a 47-27 halftime lead. Southeast shot 60.7 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from 3-point range over the opening 20 minutes.

But the second half was a different story. The Indians, who led 49-27 early in the final period, shot just 35.7 percent from the floor and 25 percent from 3-point range over the last 20 minutes.

"They zoned us all game and we probably haven't practiced three times against a zone," Garner said. "In the first half the shots were falling but in the second half they weren't."

The Rivermen stormed back and finally took their first lead of the night at 71-69 on two free throws by Perryville High School product Scott Kassel with 1:40 remaining. A Kassel follow shot with 46 seconds left made it 73-69 and the Rivermen were able to hold on.

"It's a great feeling to beat a good Division I team," said the 6-foot-8 Kassel, who graduated from Perryville in 1997 and spent two years at Lewis & Clark (Ill.) Junior College before transferring to UMSL. "It felt good to play here so close to home."

Kassel had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Mindaugas Adamonis led the Rivermen with 23 points. Daryn Carter added 18 and Jim Schelich had 17.

"It's nice to go on the road and win, whether it's an exhibition or not, when you've got nine new kids," said UMSL coach Mark Bernsen, whose squad returned just two players from last year, including Kassel. "The second half was a lot better. I think we were a little scared at first."

Despite the loss, Southeast had several bright spots, most notably the all-rookie backcourt of true freshman Brett Hale at point guard and redshirt freshman Derek Winans at shooting guard.

Hale, starting in place of Kenny Johnson as the junior-college transfer awaits NCAA certification, led the Indians with 17 points and added six assists. He hit five of nine 3-pointers as he displayed the long-range marksmanship that made him one of the state's premier shooters last year at Dexter High School.

"I was a little nervous, but it was a lot of fun," said Hale. "I never played the point in high school, but I think I handled myself pretty well. Hitting that first shot is always a bonus."

Winans, from Shawnee (Ill.) High School, scored 14 points and had six assists. He hit four of nine 3-pointers.

Sophomore forward Damarcus Hence added 12 points and seven rebounds while juco transfer swingman Demetrius King chipped in with 10 points and four assists off the bench. Junior forward Tim Scheer and junior center Daniel Weaver each had eight points.

"There were a lot of negatives in this game, but there were also a lot of good things," said Garner. "Hale and Winans, for freshmen, did really well and Weaver did a good job."

Garner thought what might have hurt the Indians the most was a lack of depth. With Johnson not available and junior forward Drew DeMond -- the only returning full-time starter from last year -- out with a hand injury, Southeast had just seven scholarship players in uniform.

"Our lack of depth right now showed," Garner said. "We played Hale and Winans 39 minutes each, which is too much. Getting DeMond and Johnson back will make a big difference."

DeMond should miss only one or two regular-season games at the most while Johnson is expected to return for the Nov. 16 opener against Birmingham Southern.

In the meantime, the Indians will play with a short deck again Monday night when they close out their exhibition schedule against the Dreambuilders at the Show Me Center.