SE ALMOST GETS TIGER TALE; MIZZOU SURVIVES LAST-SECOND SHOT, BEATS INDIANS 65-64

COLUMBIA -- Based on the events of the past several days, most people probably thought Southeast Missouri State University's basketball team would be easy pickings for Missouri Saturday night.

But the Indians were evidently not among those folks. Sure, they lost the game. But not before throwing a major scare into their heavily favored neighbors to the north.

The Tigers beat the Indians for the fifth straight season at the Hearnes Center, but they had to survive a potential game-winning shot by Southeast in the closing seconds before squeezing out a 65-64 victory in front of about 8,000 fans.

Both teams are now 4-4 after MU's second straight win and Southeast's second consecutive setback.

In the days leading up to the contest, MU had experienced a definite upswing in its previously lackluster play while Southeast had suffered through a couple of major setbacks.

First, for the Tigers: They had put together by far their most impressive performance of the season on Wednesday night, routing a solid Oral Roberts squad 85-67.

As for the Indians: After playing well for most of their first six games, they had suffered their only blowout loss of the season on Thursday night, falling at Southern Illinois 81-62.

And even more deflating than the loss to SIU was the broken foot suffered by center Bud Eley that will keep Southeast's leading scorer and rebounder out of action for at least four weeks.

So the odds were certainly stacked against the Indians Saturday. But for much of the game, it looked like Southeast was the team that felt it could win and MU was the squad playing tentatively against a heavily favored foe.

"I couldn't be more proud of our basketball team," said Southeast coach Gary Garner.

As well he should have been. The Indians took the fight to the Tigers right from the start and controlled much of the first half, leading by as many as 12 points before falling behind by one at halftime.

But the Indians -- despite missing their tallest player in the 6-foot-10 Eley -- stayed right with the bigger, brawnier Tigers the entire second half.

"You can't ask for any more out of our players, to come here and have a last shot to win the game," said Garner.

That last shot came after MU's Tyron Lee had hit two free throws with 13 seconds left to put the Tigers ahead 65-64. Lee was fouled on a drive after MU had missed a shot but grabbed the offensive rebound.

Southeast guard Kahn Cotton brought the ball up court and used his quickness to get into the lane. He floated up a running shot from about 12 feet that looked good upon release.

But the shot bounced off the rim. Southeast's David Montgomery got his hands on the rebound but the ball was knocked loose and time expired before anybody could gain control.

"Kahn got a good look. More often than not he'll make that," Garner said. "I thought it was good when he shot it."

So did Cotton, who said, "I thought it was dropping. But it just bounced off."

Montgomery hit seven of nine shots and scored 14 points to lead five Southeast players in double figures. Cory Johnson had 12, Cotton 11, Calvert White 10 and Demetrius Watson 10. Watson, who started in place of Eley, hit five of six shots.

The Indians also got a major lift off the bench from senior forward Travis Smith, who scored five crucial second-half points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds as Southeast won the battle of the boards 35-31.

"Travis just played a great game, especially because he hadn't been playing much," said Garner. "He just played his heart out. So did all the guys."

Kelly Thames and John Woods both scored 17 points for MU. Lee added 13.

Southeast shot 55 percent from the field (29 of 53) compared to 39 percent for MU (23 of 59), but the Indians were just one of three from the foul line while the Tigers went 10 of 17.

"We felt good," said Smith. "We felt we had a chance to win."

Said MU coach Norm Stewart, "Southeast Missouri really deserved to win the game. I was very impressed with them. They played better than us. We were very fortunate to win."

The Indians led 20-8 midway through the first half on freshman Nathan Owen's only basket of the game.

Southeast was still ahead 25-15 with eight minutes left in the half and led 27-18 at the 5:21 mark on White's dunk.

But the Indians failed to score the rest of the half to fall behind 28-27 at the break.

MU, however, could not shake the visitors. The Tigers built a pair of five-point leads at 44-39 and 46-41, but Southeast was relentless.

From a 51-51 tie with just over seven minutes left, the lead changed hands eight times the rest of the way.

Cotton's baseline drive with 2:37 left put the Indians ahead 60-59, but a Thames follow shot 17 seconds later gave the Tigers a 61-60 lead.

Southeast continued to trail until just 40 seconds remained. That's when a cutting White took a great pass from Cotton and dunked for a 64-63 Tribe lead.

Lee's free throws at the 13-second mark set the stage for Cotton's miss as MU narrowly avoided a major upset.

"What I'm most proud of is that our players never once doubted we could win," Garner said. "They really accepted the challenge. And if that last one goes..."

Garner's voice trailed off. Then he came to the conclusion that he was just as proud of the Indians in the one-point loss as he would have been if Cotton's shot had dropped.

"Why do we let one point distract you from how well you played," Garner said. "I feel really good about us."