SE SLUGS OUT TECH-NICAL KO

It's that time of the year -- conference season -- when basketball teams are willing to trade an uninspired, sluggish performance for a victory.

And make no mistake about it -- Southeast Missouri State University's Indians were definitely uninspired and sluggish Thursday night during their 69-51 Ohio Valley Conference win over Tennessee Tech.

A crowd of 3,598 at the Show Me Center saw the Indians improve to 7-6 overall and 3-2 in OVC play.

The slumping Golden Eagles are now 4-11 overall and 0-4 in the league as they lost for the 10th time in their last 11 games.

"We didn't play like we were supposed to," said Southeast forward Demetrius Watson, who scored 11 points and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. "It was a pretty ugly game, but at least we won. That's the main thing."

Southeast coach Gary Garner agreed with Watson on both counts. It was an ugly game, but it was a nice win, especially coming off a grueling two-game road trip deep into Kentucky.

"A win is a win, especially in conference play," said Garner. "We're disappointed we played very poorly, but it's nice to get the win.

"We got very emotional two games in a row. We just weren't here tonight. We played very poorly, that's about all you can say. You have to have that emotion and intensity and we just didn't have it tonight."

Perhaps the only thing that allowed the Indians to escape with a win is that the struggling Eagles were just a little bit worse all the way around.

The 18-point final margin is certainly misleading. Although Southeast never trailed, the Indians allowed the Eagles to hang around all night and Tech was still within three points with under seven minutes to play.

"We were very fortunate," Garner said. "They were missing their free throws in the first half. We went into halftime with a seven-point lead, mainly because they missed their free throws."

Actually, the Eagles missed their free throws all night, shooting a woeful 42 percent (11 of 26). They shot just 35 percent from the field (19 of 54) and had 21 turnovers.

The Indians shot 43 percent from the floor (22 of 51), had 15 turnovers and were outrebounded badly for the third straight game, this time 44 to 33. But they were effective from the line, hitting 18 of 25 (72 percent).

Guard Cory Johnson led the Indians with 17 points as he hit five of eight 3-pointers for the second straight game after having struggled previously.

"You knew Cory wouldn't stay down long," said Garner. "He's a great shooter."

Watson was the only other Southeast starter to score in double figures.

Southeast got a big lift from its bench, which contributed 26 points. Guard Dewayne Saulsberry continued his recent solid play with 10 points while forward Travis Smith had eight points and eight rebounds and freshman guard Nathan Owen added six points.

"We really needed our bench to play like that," said Garner. "Dewayne is starting to play with more and more confidence. I think he'll really start playing better."

Alex Franco, Tech's extremely quick and talented 6-foot-7 junior, led the Eagles with 15 points, 12 rebounds, five steals and four assists. He entered the game as the OVC's top rebounder.

"He's a very good player," Garner said. "If he had an outside shot, he would be a fantastic player."

Johnson bombed in three early 3-pointers as the Indians surged ahead 18-9. But they went scoreless for more than seven minutes as Tech hung close. It was 29-22 at halftime.

The Indians could not shake the Eagles until they used a 13-2 run to open up a 60-46 lead in the late going. Saulsberry's long 3-pointer with the shot clock running down put Southeast ahead 54-45 with just over five minutes left and the Indians cruised from there.