Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team gains OVC tourney berth through JSU loss

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Dickey Nutt sat in the stands at a high school district basketball game at Scott City High School on Thursday night watching his son Logan coach in a semifinal.

At halftime a relieved Dickey Nutt gave a thumbs up, smiled and mouthed the words, "We're in."

The Jacksonville State Gamecocks had just lost 63-57 to Eastern Kentucky. With the loss, JSU officially was eliminated from the conference tournament race, and the Redhawks secured the final spot.

It marks the fifth year in a row that Southeast has competed in the conference tournament.

Nutt didn't hide from his players the fact that a JSU loss led to a tourney berth for the Redhawks in the days leading up to their final regular-season game on Saturday, but made sure his players remained focused on their next task at hand: Austin Peay.

"We're still very focused on us," Nutt said. "One week ago we were feeling that we were just as good as anybody in this league when we lost that game to Murray State. Losing does a lot of things for you, and it creates doubt in your mind, so we've tried real hard to change that mindset in our practices. *... We're just kind of evaluating and breaking down every move that we make. I feel like we're playing really good basketball for 30 minutes, and then for the last 8-10 minutes we do things differently. Pressure gets to you a little bit, and we do things a little bit differently."

The Redhawks take a season-long three-game losing streak into Saturday's contest against the Governors. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at the Show Me Center following the women's season finale.

In each of Southeast's last three games it has led until about midway through the second half only to let a victory slip away.

"Once you're into that tournament it's a brand new season," Nutt said. "We have proven that we're very capable, but at the same time, like I told our team, it's obvious that we can be beaten as well, so we've got to play with that high intensity for 40 minutes."

Nutt used the word "careless" to describe the way the Redhawks have played when they've built up a lead, and said the intensity drops when they're ahead in the final minutes of a game.

"That goes back to the leadership on this team," Nutt said. "When things aren't going right I've yet to have that one guy grab somebody's jersey and say, 'Look, this is the way we've got to do it.'"

The Redhawks face a Governors team in the regular-season finale that is 8-21 and 3-12 in the OVC.

Southeast (12-16, 6-9 OVC) defeated APSU 70-64 on the road Jan. 31, which was part of an eight-game losing streak for the Govs.

APSU snapped its skid with a 64-61 defeat of SIU Edwardsville on Thursday night.

Junior forward Chris Horton led APSU with 23 points and 18 rebounds in the first meeting. Horton, one of the conference's top shot blockers, averages about 14 points and leads the league with about 12 rebounds per game in OVC action.

Senior forwards Ed Dyson and Chris Freeman had 12 and 10 points, respectively, against the Redhawks.

"We want to play our best basketball for 40 minutes every single night, and we haven't been able to do that," Nutt said. "That's what we're striving for right now."

Women's finale

The Southeast women's basketball team will tip off its final game of the season at 3:30 p.m. against Austin Peay at the Show Me Center.

The Redhawks, 10-18 and 3-12 in the Ohio Valley Conference, will try to snap a two-game losing streak and head into the offseason with a victory.

"To be honest, I'm not really thinking about them," Southeast coach Ty Margenthaler said. "This game's really just going to be on all of us. I'm not going to focus on them at all. Not a disrespect toward Austin Peay."

The Govs (9-19, 6-9 OVC) have locked up a spot in the conference tournament but have lost their last three games.

APSU defeated Southeast 70-62 in Clarksville, Tennessee, on Jan. 31.

Junior forward Jennifer Nwokocha led the Govs with 16 points. Six-foot-one freshman center Briane Alexander had 15 points while senior guard Kristen Stainback and sophomore center Beth Rates had 14 and 12, respectively.

The Redhawks will honor four seniors Saturday: Notre Dame graduate Allyson Bradshaw, Jasmine Robinson, Yelena Rosado and Hillary Lively.

"It's senior day, and it's just a little more excitement, and it'd be nice to get that win and feel good, and we need to do it for those seniors," Margenthaler said.