SE REBOUNDS FOR THIRD IN MONTANA TOURNEY

MISSOULA, Mont. -- Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team didn't exactly get what it came here for, but things could have definitely been worse for the Indians.

The Indians salvaged a weekend split in the KGVO Coca-Cola Classic by knocking off Robert Morris 55-44 in the third-place game Saturday night.

Host Montana and Idaho met for the championship later Saturday in a game that was still going on as the Southeast Missourian went to press.

Southeast, which had suffered its first loss of the season Friday night at the hands of Montana, bounced back to improve its record to 6-1. Robert Morris fell to 2-5.

"It wasn't pretty, but third-place games are very hard to play when you come to win the championship," said Southeast coach Gary Garner. "But I was proud of the guys for the way we bounced back."

Garner was especially happy to see an improved rebounding effort by the Indians, who were beaten badly on the boards during Friday night's loss to Montana.

Against Robert Morris, Southeast held a 47 to 36 rebounding advantage.

"That was about the only thing we talked about," Garner said. "We really emphasized rebounding and I thought we did a good job on the boards."

Roderick Johnson, a senior forward, had his second straight double-double for the Indians as he scored 15 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, including six offensive boards.

"Coach really laid it on us (after Friday's game)," said Johnson. "He told us rebounding was the most important thing. We came out really focused on rebounding."

Also scoring in double figures for Southeast was Mike Branson with 14 points, and he also grabbed eight rebounds. Brian Bunche had a strong game with nine points and 13 rebounds.

"I thought Roderick, Brian and Mike really hit the boards hard," said Garner.

Gene Nabors led the Colonials with 17 points, but no other Robert Morris player scored in double figures.

The Indians won despite shooting just 29 percent from the field (17 of 58). Southeast made only one 3-pointer in 16 attempts.

Robert Morris also struggled offensively, shooting 38 percent (19 of 50). The Colonials were 2-for-15 on 3-pointers.

"I was exceptionally pleased with our defense," said Robert Morris coach Jim Boone. "What I'm frustrated about is our inability to get and make open shots."

For the second straight night, the Indians started off slow offensively as they had only three points after more than six minutes of play.

Southeast held early leads of 2-0 and 3-2 before the Indians hit a drought and Robert Morris went ahead 7-3.

The Indians pulled into an 8-8 tie and the lead changed hands several times after that before Southeast used a 9-0 run to surge back in front for good.

Johnson scored inside to give Southeast a 23-21 lead with 2:51 left before halftime.

Branson hit two free throws for a 25-21 advantage and Matt Morris -- a walkon junior guard who made his first career start Saturday night -- drilled a 3-pointer to put the Indians up 28-21 with just under two minutes left.

The Colonials scored the next five points to pull within 28-26, but Morris gave the Indians a boost when his 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer allowed Southeast to carry a 31-26 lead into the break.

Johnson, hitting the boards with a fury, had 11 points and eight rebounds over the first 20 minutes, helping Southeast overcome 31-percent shooting (nine of 29).

Southeast scored the first four points of the second half, getting baskets from Michael Stokes and Branson, to open up a 35-26 lead.

The Indians again pushed their lead to nine points on the highlight play of the contest when Emmanuel McCuthison took an alley-oop inbound pass and soared high for a one-hand jam, making it 39-30.

Southeast then began to pull away a bit as Branson hit a 16-footer and Johnson scored on a follow shot, giving the Indians a 47-34 lead with 8:37 remaining.

Robert Morris, taking advantage of a Southeast dry spell, managed to pull within 49-42 with 4:55 left. The Colonials also came within seven at 51-44, but only 18.6 seconds remained.

Branson hit four straight free throws in the closing seconds to seal the victory.