SE WINS ON SCHEER WILL

With his team in an early funk Saturday night, Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball coach Gary Garner sent Tim Scheer in off the bench to try and provide a spark.

Scheer did much more than that. The sophomore forward scored 11 points in just 10 first-half minutes to help the Indians build an eight-point halftime lead over Tennessee-Martin.

Scheer went on to score a career-high -- by far -- 17 points and grab seven rebounds in just 15 minutes as the Indians posted a much-needed 60-49 victory in front of 4,918 fans at the Show Me Center.

Southeast, which had suffered a two-point loss at home to Murray State Thursday night, improved to 10-6 overall and 2-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play.

UTM fell to 4-8 overall and 0-3 in the OVC.

"We just needed a win. Period," said Garner.

Scheer was one of the main reasons the Indians got the victory. He entered the contest with season averages of 3.5 points and 2.5 rebounds and he had never before during his collegiate career scored more than seven points in a game.

"It felt real good," said the soft-spoken Scheer with a big grin. "I just wanted to come in and play hard. It's always good to give the team a lift when we're struggling a little bit."

Scheer hit seven of 10 shots from the field, including one of two 3-pointers, and he made two of three from the free-throw line. Asked if his offensive outburst surprised him, Scheer quickly shook his head no.

"I've been doing it in practice but I've been struggling in games," said Scheer, who has made four starts at the power forward position but began Saturday's contest on the bench as Garner continues to search for answers at power forward. "It's just a matter of getting confidence."

Garner concurred that the 6-foot-7 Scheer is generally one of the Indians' more impressive players during practice.

"If you would just watch us practice, Tim Scheer shoots the basketball well most days," Garner said. "I've always said, if he just gets his confidence...Hopefully this will be kind of a launching pad for him."

Scheer was the only Indian to reach double figures in the scoring column. Emmanuel McCuthison, Michael Stokes and Antonio Short -- Southeast's three leading scorers on the season with 39 points per game -- combined for just 21 points, with Stokes not making a field goal.

McCuthison did score nine points and pull down nine rebounds, the same figures attained by Terry Rogers as the Indians held a commanding 48-20 rebounding edge. Short added eight points and five assists.

"We really played well in most areas, except one," said Garner, pointing to his team's 24 turnovers. "That kind of tainted it. In a low-scoring game, to have 24 turnovers, that's really bad.

"But the rebounding was big for us. We really dominated the boards."

UTM's leading scorer also came off the bench as former Three Rivers Community College star Brian Foster matched Scheer with 17 points. Okechi Egbe and Hayden Prescott both added 10 points.

"We've played at three of the four toughest places to play on the road in the OVC," said UTM coach Bret Campbell, whose squad has also dropped league games at Murray State and Eastern Illinois so far. "If we can just keep our heads up, I think we'll still be fine."

Scheer's first-half play helped the Indians to a 29-21 lead at the intermission.

Trailing 19-17, the Indians used a 12-0 run to take control. Daniel Weaver put Southeast ahead for good with a layup at the 5:54 mark, making it 21-19. Scheer and McCuthison each scored four points as the Indians built a 29-19 lead before UTM got the final basket of the opening half.

Southeast went up 34-23 early in the second half as Short scored five quick points.

But the Skyhawks would never totally go away. They got to within three points and were still within striking distance at 51-45 with just over five minutes remaining.

Trailing 54-47, the Skyhawks went nearly four minutes without a point as the Indians pulled away for good. Southeast's biggest lead was 60-47 in the closing seconds.

"We really needed this win," said Rogers. "It's a big win for us."

The Indians will now be off until next Saturday, when they visit Eastern Illinois. The Panthers are one of the OVC's top teams and they routed Murray State 79-63 Saturday night.