ROAD FAILS TO CURE TRIBE

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Struggling at home so far in Ohio Valley Conference play, Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team was hoping to get well on the road this week, beginning here Tuesday night.

But Tennessee Tech had other ideas. The Golden Eagles, fighting for the OVC regular-season championship heading into the homestretch, took over sole possession of first place in the league with a 79-69 victory at the Eblen Center.

The Eagles, who swept the two-game season series with Southeast, improved to 14-7 overall and 9-2 in OVC play. They lead Eastern Illinois, which was idle Tuesday, by one-half game.

For the Indians, their slump continues. Losing three straight for just the second time under coach Gary Garner -- the only other three-game skid came during Garner's first season at Southeast in 1997-98 -- the Indians are now 13-10 overall and 4-7 in the OVC as they dipped into a seventh-place tie in the nine-team league.

"It's disappointing, to start the week with a loss," said Garner, whose squad plays at Murray State Thursday night and Tennessee-Martin Saturday night. "We played okay. We didn't play great, but they just played better."

Tech senior forward Larrie Smith, the OVC's leading rebounder with just over nine per game, led the way with 24 points and 10 rebounds as he played all 40 minutes. Smith hit nine of 12 shots from the field and all six of his free-throws.

"Larrie Smith was the game," Garner said.

Said Tech coach Jeff Lebo of Smith, his undersized inside player who is listed as 6-feet-5, "He's the best 6-4 post player, maybe in America. He's a warrior."

Guard Brent Jolly was the Eagles' only other double-figure scorer with 18 points.

Southeast got 15 points from Michael Stokes and 10 apiece from Drew DeMond and Tim Scheer.

The Eagles shot 52.2 percent from the field (24 of 46) compared to 45.6 percent for the Indians (26 of 57). Tech had a big edge in the free-throw department, hitting 23 of 27 to nine of 11 for Southeast.

"Any time you win a conference game, it's big," Lebo said. "And beating SEMO twice (this season) makes you feel good because of the kind of program they have."

The first half featured several big runs by both teams and ended with Tech leading 41-36, thanks in large part to hitting 14 of 16 free throws as compared to six of seven for the Indians.

Tech started strong, scoring the game's first four points and building an early 18-9 lead.

Southeast then used a 25-6 run -- which included 11 straight points -- to seemingly gain control.

Little-used Damarcus Hence -- averaging 4.5 minutes and 1.4 points per game -- played 10 first-half minutes and had four points during the Indians' big run.

A 3-pointer by Amory Sanders with nine minutes left before the intermission gave the Indians their first lead of the night at 23-22.

The Eagles went back ahead 24-23, but the Indians then scored 11 points in a row -- five from Stokes -- to grab a 34-24 advantage with just over five minutes remaining in the period.

But the Indians went nearly five minutes without a point, during which time the Eagles scored 13 straight. Overall, Tech scored 17 of the final 19 points of the first half -- including two free throws with no time left by Adonis Hart -- to go up by five at the break.

Tech scored 11 of the first 17 points of the second half to build a 52-42 lead. Antonio Short and Emmanuel McCuthison drilled consecutive 3-pointers as the Indians pulled to within 52-48.

The Eagles got the next seven points and used an overall 15-6 burst to open up a 67-54 advantage with just under 11 minutes to go.

And that was pretty much the game as Southeast could get no closer than nine points the rest of the way. Tech's biggest lead of the night was 14 in the closing moments.

"It was a game of runs," said Lebo. "We got up nine in the first half, they go up 10, then we come back. They're a very streaky team and when their perimeter guys start hitting shots, they can score in a hurry."