SE hopes it's hump day against Govs

Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team appears to be improving with almost every game -- but the Indians continue to receive few tangible rewards for their progress.

Coach Gary Garner hopes that will finally change today when the Indians (3-15, 1-6 Ohio Valley Conference) face Austin Peay (9-12, 4-3) in a 1 p.m. tipoff at the Show Me Center.

"I keep saying we're getting better and I know we are," said Garner. "But how much better? Are we better enough to get over the hump?"

The young, inexperienced Indians have found that proverbial hump to be mighty difficult so far, particularly in OVC play.

Despite their dismal league record, the Indians have been beaten decisively from start to finish by only Tennessee-Martin. In their other conference losses, they have held either sizable early leads or narrow late leads -- or both -- before falling short.

Against visiting Tennessee Tech Thursday night, Southeast played an overall solid game against the OVC's first-place team. The Indians jumped ahead 15-2 early and were ahead 29-23 at halftime before the Eagles stormed back for a 75-62 victory.

Southeast suffered more than just another loss Thursday. Center Drew DeMond, one of the OVC's top shot-blockers who is third on the team in scoring and first in rebounding, suffered a sprained knee late in the first half and missed the rest of the contest.

While at this point DeMond's injury is not believed to be serious, he will definitely miss today's game and is questionable for next week's road contests at Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech. He was on crutches Friday.

"They're pretty sure nothing is torn, but Drew is very sore and tender," Garner said. "We hope he can play next week, but right now he's just day to day.

"Without Drew, it really hurts us inside. He's our best defensive player inside and he gives us some scoring."

Monte Gordon, undersized at 6-feet-5 but probably the Indians' strongest player at about 225 pounds, will likely start in place of DeMond. And 6-11 freshman Adam Crader could also receive more minutes than he has been getting lately.

While Southeast is struggling after returning very little experience from last year, Austin Peay is also in something of a transition phase after losing four starters -- including Trenton Hassell, who is now in the NBA -- from a team that won 22 games and reached the finals of the OVC Tournament.

But the Governors, who start three sophomores and a freshman, have apparently adjusted fairly well as they are tied for fourth place in the nine-team OVC, just one game out of second place.

The Govs are led by senior guard Nick Stapleton, one of the OVC's premier players and Austin Peay's only returning full-time regular from last year. The explosive Stapleton averages 23.1 points per game to rank second in the league. He scored 33 points Thursday as the Govs nearly rallied from an 18-point second-half deficit before falling at Eastern Illinois 73-70.

"He's a tremendous player, one of the best in the conference," said Garner. "You're not going to stop a player like that. You just hope to contain him some, keep him a little below his average."

Austin Peay's only other double-figure scorer is freshman guard Anthony Davis (10.1 ppg). Sophomore forward Rhet Wierzba is the OVC's second-leading 3-point shooter at better than 47 percent while sophomore center Josh Lewis ranks second in the league in blocked shots with almost two per game.

mmishow@semissourian.com

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