Southeast men hold off IUPUI's rally

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team led most of the way before seeing host IUPUI rally to go ahead late.

But the Redhawks remained strong and rallied back for a 76-68 victory Saturday afternoon in Indianapolis, Ind.

Southeast, which notched its first road win of the year, improved to 2-1. The Jaguars fell to 0-3 as they suffered their 19th straight loss dating back to last season.

"This early in the year, to go on the road and pick up a win is special," Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said. "I was proud because I thought we overcame some adversity today. Some things did not go right for us in the second half."

The Redhawks, who led by 10 points in the first half, faced a 65-63 deficit with under three minutes remaining.

Southeast then scored 12 consecutive points to finally take control for good.

"We made some really good plays down the stretch," Nutt said. "We had some guys hit some big shots."

Junior college transfer guard Darrian Gray's 3-pointer with 2:07 left put Southeast ahead to stay at 68-65.

After IUPUI missed two shots, senior forward Tyler Stone drilled a 3-pointer with 1:09 remaining to make it 71-65.

Stone then iced the victory by making 4 of 4 free throws, the last two with 16 seconds left, as the Redhawks went up 75-65 to match their biggest lead of the day.

Stone, the Ohio Valley Conference preseason player of the year who was suspended for the first two games this year due to a violation of team rules, led Southeast with 22 points and 14 rebounds. He also had four assists and three blocks.

"It was great to have Tyler back," Nutt said. "I thought he handled the situation [of the suspension] very well."

Freshman guard Antonius Cleveland continued his impressive start to his rookie collegiate season with 15 points, 13 in the first half. He added four assists and two steals.

Gray added 11 points -- he hit 3 of 5 3-pointers -- and five steals while senior point guard Lucas Nutt contributed nine points and six assists.

"Antonius and Darrian made some big plays. So did Lucas," Dickey Nutt said.

Junior forward Nino Johnson, who like Stone was suspended for the first two games due to a violation of team rules, contributed six points, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

"Having Nino back was big for us," Dickey Nutt said. "I thought he also handled the situation [of the suspension] very well."

Freshman guard Jamaal Calvin was also a key player for the Redhawks with six first-half points off the bench. He hit 2 of 3 from beyond the arc.

IUPUI junior guard Ian Chiles led all scorers with 24 points. Junior guard Khufu Najee had 22 points for the Jaguars.

Both teams shot well from the field, Southeast 47.6 percent and IUPUI 48.1 percent. The Redhawks hit 8 of 22 3-pointers (36.4 percent) while the Jaguars were 5 of 15 (33.3 percent).

The Redhawks trailed just once in the first half, at 7-4. They controlled most of the rest of the period and carried a 42-35 advantage into the break.

IUPUI battled back in the second half and forged a 56-56 tie midway through the period. Things remained tight the rest of the way -- there were four lead changes -- before Southeast's late 12-0 burst decided things.

The Jaguars will have a chance to avenge the loss when they play at Southeast on Dec. 23.

Southeast concludes its two-game road trip Monday with a 6 p.m. matchup against Ball State (1-1) in Muncie, Ind.