Second-day recovery seals big road win

MISSOULA, Mont. -- Southeast Missouri State University straightened out its shooting Sunday night and picked up a big victory over a defending conference champion.

The Indians, one night after shooting just 31 percent during a loss to host Montana, shot 52 percent and upset California-Santa Barbara 77-75 in the third-place game of the Double Tree Holiday Classic.

Five players scored in double figures for the Indians, who improved to 3-1. The Gauchos, last year's Big West Conference champions and favorites to repeat, fell to 1-2. UC-Santa Barbara was ranked 11th nationally among mid-major programs by Collegeinsider.com.

"It's a big win for us, one of the biggest non-conference wins we've had," Southeast coach Gary Garner said. "We beat a heck of a basketball team.

"I've never been involved in a third-place game where both teams played with so much energy and enthusiasm. I think our kids really showed some character. We just played so hard. We just weren't going to be denied. Our players really feel good about this win."

Junior forward Dainmon Gonner led the Indians with 21 points and hit seven of 14 shots, including all three of his 3-point attempts. Gonner added seven rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots while playing 37 minutes.

Senior center Brandon Griffin shook off a slow start to score 14 points -- hitting seven of nine shots -- and pull down six rebounds to go along with four assists. Griffin had four points and no rebounds at halftime.

Junior guard Derek Winans added 14 points and four assists, junior guard Brett Hale scored 12 points -- all in the final five minutes -- and junior guard Norman Prather contributed 10 points and five rebounds. Hale and Prather both hit two of three 3-pointers while Winans was two of five.

The Indians hit 26 of 50 shots, including 10 of 17 3-pointers (59 percent). They also had just 10 turnovers.

"We really executed our offense, and we had great team chemistry tonight," Garner said. "It was by far our best game of the year."

Southeast came out strong and built two early 12-point leads, but UC-Santa Barbara rallied for a 32-32 halftime tie.

The Gauchos appeared to take control as they led 52-46 with less than 13 minutes remaining, and they were ahead 56-51 with just over eight minutes to play.

But the Indians assumed command instead with an 11-0 run -- Griffin scored eight points -- to go ahead 62-56. Gonner's 3-pointer at the 7:41 mark tied it at 56-56 and Griffin's short jumper with 6:48 left put the Indians up to stay at 58-56.

Southeast remained ahead by at least three points the rest of the way except when the Gauchos scored a meaningless 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Hale had 11 straight points during a crucial late stretch, including a 3-pointer at the 1:55 mark that made it 73-65 for Southeast's biggest second-half lead.

Senior guard Jacoby Atako led the Gauchos with 23 points, including their final 10.

"The way the game developed, with us having the big early lead and then falling behind by six in the second half, I was just so proud of our kids," Garner said.

Southeast returns to action Wednesday night, facing undefeated Southern Illinois in Carbondale. The Salukis have the nation's second-longest home-court winning streak at 28.