SE FIXES FLAT, ROLLS BY MTSU; INDIANS STUN OVC CO-LEADER 85-76

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Just when you think Southeast Missouri State University's basketball Indians have reached their plateau and started to level off, here they come again.

The Indians, who just two days earlier had lost by 20 points at lowly Tennessee Tech, made up for that one in a big way here Saturday afternoon as they stunned Ohio Valley Conference power Middle Tennessee State 85-76 in front of 3,671 fans at Murphy Center.

And because of that victory, the Indians kept themselves squarely in the chase for the OVC's all-important fourth-place spot.

"This is a tremendous win for us," said Southeast coach Gary Garner. "Coming back the way we did after the game Thursday night really says a lot about this group."

Southeast improved to 12-11 overall and 8-7 in OVC play to remain in fifth place in the 10-team league, one-half game behind fourth-place Austin Peay. The top four finishers in the conference earn first-round home games for the league tournament.

"That's why this one was so important," said Garner. "It keeps us right there with Austin Peay in the race for fourth place.

"We went 2-1 this week on the road. You'll take that any time. We didn't win the two I thought we'd win. But we won at two of the toughest places in the league (Austin Peay and MTSU)."

The Raiders, who suffered their first loss in their last 16 home games, fell to 17-5 overall and 11-3 in the OVC as they dropped out of a first-place tie with Murray State.

"You have to give them (Southeast) a lot of credit," said MTSU coach Randy Wiel. "They played very well and they hit a lot of big shots."

It certainly was one of the Indians' most complete performances of the season as they trailed only once all game, that being 2-0 in the opening moments.

Southeast shot 52 percent from the field (29 of 56), 41 percent from 3-point range (11 of 27) and 80 percent from the free-throw line (16 of 20). The Indians also had only 11 turnovers, including just three in the second half.

"I don't think we can play any better than that," Garner said. "We really played well for 40 minutes."

In addition to the win, it was a big day for Southeast junior guard Cory Johnson in another respect as he became the school's single-season record-holder for 3-point baskets.

Johnson, who scored 16 points, hit four of 10 3-pointers, giving him 88 treys on the season. He broke the old record of 86 held by former Indian standout Curtis Shelton.

"I really wasn't thinking about the record coming in, but it's nice that I get it during a big win like this," said Johnson, who also had a team-high five assists. "This makes up for Thursday. We were wanting to get two out of three on the road and we did."

David Montgomery led the Indians in scoring with 21 points as he hit nine of 12 shots.

"We were flat the other night but we came out today and played a lot better," said Montgomery. "A lot of different players hit big shots. It was a total team effort."

Calvert White had a huge game for the Indians with 20 points, nine rebounds and three assists. He scored 15 points in the second half.

"We felt we gave one away (at Tech) and we wanted to make up for it today," said White. "And playing the first-place (OVC) team, we were looking forward to this game."

Also contributing well for the Indians were a pair of freshman guards, Nathan Owen and Matt Morris. Each scored 10 points.

Morris, a walkon, saw his most extensive action of the season. He played 28 minutes and added four rebounds and two assists to go with his scoring.

"Matt not only played well offensively but he really did a good job on defense," Garner said. "Here's a kid who (assistant coach) Tom Schuberth saw playing in the (Student) Rec Center and invited him to try out.

"And now he's playing a lot of minutes in a huge game. If he's not on the team, we probably don't win today. Of course, everybody who got in did a great job."

Southeast point guard Kahn Cotton was also solid with eight points, six rebounds and three assists.

MTSU got 15 points from Aylton Tesch, 11 from both Freddie Martinez and Mantia Callender and 10 from Kent Ayer.

The Indians, who had fallen behind 15-2 during the early stages of Thursday's game, came out strong this time.

After MTSU hit the opening basket, Southeast scored eight straight points -- including five by Morris.

After MTSU pulled back to within 8-7, the Indians were steadily able to increase their lead, building it to 35-24 on Owen's 3-pointer with 3:28 left in the first half.

Southeast held a 37-30 halftime advantage behind Johnson's 14 points.

MTSU scored the first four points of the second half, but the Indians refused to falter, eventually building their lead back up to 11 four more times, the last on Owen's 3-pointer with under eight minutes left that made it 69-58.

The Indians still led 70-60 a short time later when the Raiders made one final push, pulling to within 75-72 with 1:12 remaining.

But Southeast closed the game strong by hitting 10 of 12 free throws in the final minute.

"We finished the game out well. We were really strong down the stretch," said Garner.

Southeast's coach was particularly impressed with the way the Indians picked up so well on a new offense put in during Friday's practice.

"We tried to spread the floor today," Garner said. "We felt we had to have something different for them (MTSU). One practice and the guys just ran it so well today."

The Indians will now play two of their final three regular-season games at home, beginning Thursday night against Tennessee-Martin. Southeast will face powerhouse Murray State Saturday night.