SEMO GOT LIFT FROM INSIDE TO KNOCK OFF SW MISSOURI

Terry Rogers, Daniel Weaver, Nyah Jones, Drew DeMond and Tim Scheer combined to score 24 points during Southeast Missouri State University's 73-71 win over Southwest Missouri State Saturday night.

That production might not seem like much -- but it brought a smile to Indians' coach Gary Garner's face.

It's no secret that, so far this season, Garner has not been all that pleased with the collective performance of the various players he's been using at the power forward and center positions. And in recent games, those players had really struggled.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Southeast's best players are the ones that basically roam the perimeter and slash to the basket, namely swingman Emmanuel McCuthison and guards Michael Stokes, Antonio Short and Amory Sanders. They are the squad's four leading scorers.

But in order for the Indians to be a really good team, Garner knows that his true inside players have to at least be a threat. And Saturday they were.

"I thought our inside players did a much better job," said Garner following the victory that raised Southeast's record to 6-3. "I think that part of our game is going to steadily improve. We just have to keep working on it."

Rogers, who has probably been the most solid and steady of Southeast's inside players so far, came off the bench to score eight points Saturday, six coming in the second half. He hit three of four shots from the field and both of his free-throw attempts, a pair of huge ones in the closing seconds.

Weaver, who had barely seen any action in the Indians' last few games, had his best performance of the season, scoring a season-high seven points, five coming in the second half. He hit two of three from the field and three of four from the free-throw line.

Jones took just four shots, but he hit two and scored four points, as did Scheer, who was making his first career start. Scheer had the Indians' first basket of the game on a breakaway dunk.

DeMond scored just one point but he blocked three shots, including a huge one during the late stages of the game.

"I thought all of them did some good things for us," said Garner of the five. "Daniel Weaver really had a good game."

In addition to the scoring, the five inside players also battled hard on the boards, grabbing a total of 11 rebounds to help Southeast outrebound an opponent for only the second time all season. Rogers tied McCuthison for team-high rebounding honors with six.

"Rebounding has and will continue to be a big emphasis for us," Garner said. "It's not something you can correct all at once, but I think we're going to keep getting better at it. We had a big improvement (against SMS)."

While Southeast's inside game finally showed a pulse, it was still the perimeter players that basically carried the squad. Stokes had a huge game, scoring 20 points, dishing out four assists and committing just one turnover while playing 38 of a possible 40 minutes.

The senior point guard hit six of 10 shots from the field -- virtually all of them on his signature slashing drives to the basket -- and all eight of his free-throw attempts, including several crucial ones in the closing moments.

In addition, Stokes held SMS point guard Robert Yanders -- the Bears' fourth-leading scorer at nearly 11 points per game -- scoreless. Yanders missed all seven of his shots from the floor.

"Michael just had a great all-around game," said Garner. "He does just about everything for us, he handles the ball, he sets people up, he scores. And he held Yanders, who is a really good player, scoreless."

Sanders hit Southeast's only two 3-pointers of the night and scored 12 points off the bench. McCuthison made just one of seven shots from the field but was eight of 10 from the line for 10 points.

The Indians were able to win despite making just two of 14 3-pointers -- they came into the game ranked 15th nationally in 3-point shooting at 43 percent -- and allowing the Bears to shoot 55 percent from the field.

"You won't win that many games when your opponent shoots 55 percent," Garner said.

But the Indians thrived from the free-throw line, hitting 27 of 35 for an impressive 77 percent. Although they missed a few late that allowed SMS a chance to either tie or win at the end, Southeast was 24 of 32 (75 percent) in the second half.

Conversely, the Bears went to the line just 13 times, making 12.

Southeast also had only 10 turnovers and, as mentioned earlier, outrebounded the Bears (25-22).

"We did a lot of things well in order to win this game," said Garner. "And we needed to do a lot of things well because I think Southwest Missouri State is a very good basketball team."

The Indians will have their fourth straight home game Wednesday when Campbell visits the Show Me Center for a 7 p.m. tipoff. Campbell, located in Buies Creek, N.C., competes in the Trans America Athletic Conference. The Camels have a 3-4 record.