SOUTHEAST HOLDS OFF TALENTED ARKANSAS ST.

Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball coach Gary Garner knew the Indians would have to step up their play in order to beat a talented Arkansas State squad Saturday night.

And step up the Indians did as they slipped past the ASU Indians 74-71 in front of a season-high 5,826 fans at the Show Me Center.

Southeast, facing probably its toughest opponent of the season to date, improved to 7-1. ASU, which was coming off a 12-point win over Memphis Thursday night, fell to 2-5.

Needless to say, Garner was elated following the nerve-wracking victory that had virtually every fan at the Show Me Center on its feet in the closing seconds.

"Didn't I tell everybody that this would be a great basketball game," said a smiling Garner. "I'm very happy with the effort and very proud of everybody. This is a tremendous win.

"I thought we played our best 40-minute game of the season. We turned it over too much (19 times), but overall, it was a very good performance against a really good basketball team. Arkansas State is very talented."

Garner's squad had many heroes in the victory, but nobody stood out more than splendid point guard Michael Stokes, who was matched head-to-head for much of the night with ASU All-America candidate Chico Fletcher, the two-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year.

Stokes, a junior-college transfer, has had a strong rookie season for the Indians. But Saturday night, he elevated his game even more as he put on a dazzling performance.

Playing 38 of a possible 40 minutes, Stokes scored 18 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists while playing solid defense against the ultra-quick Fletcher.

Stokes hit seven of 12 shots from the field, including four of five 3-pointers. His 30-footer at the end of the first half gave Southeast a 37-33 halftime lead. And his 25-footer with the shot clock about to run out gave the Indians a 71-65 lead with under four minutes to play.

"Stokes was incredible," said an admiring Garner. "Was that (the matchup with Fletcher) great to watch."

Fletcher finished with 10 points and seven assists, but he hit just four of 11 shots from the field.

"I didn't look at it as a personal battle. I just wanted to do whatever I could to help us win," said Stokes, who admitted with a grin, "I was extra fired up."

Stokes had plenty of help. Mike Branson also scored 18 points as he hit seven of nine shots, including several extremely big ones.

Roderick Johnson added 12 points. Amory Sanders contributed nine points and six assists and he hit six of six free throws, including two with 11 seconds left to account for the final margin of victory.

Brian Bunche was his usual hard-nosed self on the boards with 10 rebounds, even though Southeast lost the battle of the boards 38 to 27.

ASU was led by C.J. Pepper with 20 points. Kolin Weaver added 14. Freshman Jon Beck, a former Scott City High standout, added six points as he hit two of four 3-pointers in 17 minutes of action.

From the opening tip, this one lived up to all its pre-game hype.

Southeast came out jacked up and scored the first five points, and the Indians later went up 11-5. But ASU rallied for a 25-20 lead.

From a 28-28 tie, Johnson hit two free throws with 3:53 left in the first half to put Southeast up 30-28 and the Indians would not trail again, although things would never get easy.

Stokes' dramatic buzzer-beating 30-footer at the end of the first half electrified the crowd and sent Southeast into the break up 37-33.

Southeast pushed its advantage to 49-41 early in the second half and the Indians later led 68-60 with under six minutes left.

But Southeast could never shake ASU. Stokes' shot clock-beating 25-footer that put Southeast up 71-65 seemed to give the Indians a little breathing room, but not much.

Pepper's layup with 1:05 remaining pulled ASU to within 71-69. Johnson hit one of two free throws with 38 seconds left to make it 72-69, but Weaver's inside basket with 26 seconds to play pulled ASU to within 72-71.

Sanders then calmly swished two free throws with 11.3 seconds remaining for a 74-71 Southeast lead.

Fletcher drove the court and fired a 3-pointer from straight on that bounced high off the rim. Bunche snared the rebound and was able to call a timeout just before he landed out of bounds with two seconds left.

Southeast was able to inbound the ball to Stokes, who dribbled out the clock to secure the victory.

The Indians will return to action Wednesday night at Bradley.