SE STAYS MC-WINLESS AT MCBRAYER; INDIANS LOSE 82-79 IN 2OT

RICHMOND, Ky. -- They sure didn't go down easily, but Southeast Missouri State University's basketball Indians continued their futility at McBrayer Arena Monday night.

The Indians entered the Ohio Valley Conference game having never won on Eastern Kentucky's home court since Southeast joined the OVC seven years ago.

The Indians rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to force overtime, but EKU ultimately escaped with a thrilling 82-79 double-overtime victory as the Indians fell to 0-7 in McBrayer.

Southeast is now 6-6 overall and 2-2 in OVC play. EKU, which won its third straight game, is 3-8 overall and also 2-2 in the league.

"We hung in there and hung in there and we had chances to win the game," said an obviously disappointed Southeast coach Gary Garner after the contest. "To come back on the road like we did...our guys really play hard.

"These kind of games, you'll rerun and look at so many different things. You can't pick out any one thing."

Cory Johnson shook off a recent shooting slump and had a huge game for the Indians with 24 points, 15 coming after halftime.

Demetrius Watson scored 16 points while Kahn Cotton had 11 and Calvert White 10. But Cotton and White combined to hit just three of 20 shots, with Cotton going one of 13.

Mark Williams led the Colonels with 23 points and David Evans had 19.

Southeast led 10-4 early in the game, but EKU controlled much of the first half and went ahead by nine points before settling for a 32-27 lead at the break.

After Southeast pulled to within 32-29 to start the second half, EKU used an 8-0 run to open up a 40-29 lead.

The Colonels also led by 11 points at 44-33 and they were still ahead 46-36 with under 13 minutes left when the Indians mounted a comeback.

Trailing 49-41, Watson hit a 16-footer, White made two free throws and then Johnson bombed home a long 3-pointer to pull the Indians within 49-48 with 8:40 left.

EKU continued to maintain a slim lead for the next several minutes until Southeast finally pulled into a 55-55 tie as Watson hit two foul shots with 4:54 remaining.

Marty Thomas drilled a 3-pointer 21 seconds later to put the Colonels back on top 58-55. Johnson came back with two free throws at the 4:18 mark to make it 58-57.

Southeast then missed shots with a chance to take the lead on three straight possessions.

Aaron Cecil hit one of two free throws at the two-minute mark to put EKU ahead 59-57. White's two foul shots with 1:55 left pulled the Indians back into a 59-59 deadlock.

Evans made one of two free throws with 1:33 remaining to put the Colonels back on top 60-59.

The Indians finally took the lead for the first time since it was 17-16 when David Montgomery received a nice pass from Johnson and dunked with 1:08 left to make it 61-60.

After an EKU miss and a timeout, Southeast broke the press perfectly and Watson hit Montgomery for another dunk to put the Indians ahead 63-60 with 30 seconds to play.

After an EKU timeout, the Colonels had problems getting into their offense and very nearly lost the ball. But they recovered and Chris Fitzgerald wound up with an open 3-pointer that he drained from the right side with 5.5 seconds left to force a 63-63 tie.

Kahn Cotton's tough running jumper under pressure was off the mark and the teams headed to a five-minute overtime period.

"You always think about maybe fouling (at the end of regulation)," Garner said. "But we had worked on our three-point defense and felt good about it."

Cotton, who did not have a field goal in regulation, hit a 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down to start overtime as the Indians went ahead 66-63.

The Indians had a chance to go ahead by five points a minute later, but Watson missed from in close.

After EKU forged a 67-67 tie, Johnson's tough shot in the lane with 1:14 left put the Indians up 69-67.

Evans made two free throws with 53 seconds left for a 69-69 tie.

Cotton missed a tough 15-footer with 25 seconds left, but the Colonels also missed at the end so it was on to another overtime period.

Williams made a 3-pointer to start the second extra period and, after Southeast tied it, another Williams trey with 3:01 left put the Colonels ahead 79-75.

But Cotton and Watson both hit two free throws in the next 1:15 as the Indians pulled into a 79-79 tie.

After the teams exchanged turnovers, Evans made two foul shots with 58 seconds left to put EKU ahead 81-79.

Cotton missed a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left and Williams made one of two free throws five seconds later to give the Colonels an 82-79 lead.

Cotton then threw the ball away underneath the EKU basket. Johnson very nearly came up with a steal right back but he stepped out of bounds, so the Colonels maintained possession with 9.5 seconds left.

The Colonels threw a long inbounds pass to Williams, but he missed a layup so Southeast still had one more chance. But White's 3-pointer from the top of the key bounced off the back of the rim as the buzzer sounded.

"We really got into the game in the second half and I felt like we were going to win," said Garner. "It's a tough loss. We've just got to bounce back."

The Indians will return home to face Tennessee Tech at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Show Me Center.