SOUTHEAST PULLS RANK ON COLONELS

RICHMOND, Ky. -- Southeast Missouri State University sophomore center Daniel Weaver made the most out of just his second start of the season.

Weaver scored the game-winning basket Monday night, grabbing an offensive rebound and depositing a short bank shot with 38 seconds remaining as the Indians survived a major scare and defeated Eastern Kentucky 65-59.

The Indians, who completed a sweep of their two-game road trip, improved to 13-7 overall and 4-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play as they assumed sole possession of fifth place in the nine-team league.

EKU, despite a determined effort, lost a staggering 24th consecutive OVC game. The Colonels fell to 6-12 overall and a last-place 0-8 in the conference.

"Any road win is big, I don't care if it's by 20 points or one," said Southeast coach Gary Garner. "You have to give Eastern Kentucky a lot of credit. I thought they really gave a great effort and played hard the whole way through.

"In a game like this, you don't care how you win it, you just want to win it. It's a big one for us."

After leading by nine points twice in the second half, the Indians found themselves tied at 59-59 with 1:14 left after a follow shot by EKU's Phillip Taylor.

Southeast's Emmanuel McCuthison then missed a shot, but Weaver grabbed the offensive rebound and deposited the tie-breaker, giving the Indians a 61-59 lead.

The Indians then were able to ice the victory from the free-throw line as Michael Stokes made two with 20 seconds left and Antonio Short nailed a pair with six seconds remaining.

"I just wanted to go right back up with it and put it in," said a smiling Weaver in describing his late heroics. "I think everybody is worn out. Eastern Kentucky really played hard and so did we. It's a good win for us."

Weaver, who earned the starting spot after performing well late during Saturday's overtime win at Morehead State, scored 11 points and pulled down eight rebounds.

Stokes paced the Indians offensively with 17 points. McCuthison had 12 and Tim Scheer, turning in his fifth straight strong performance off the bench, scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

"I just try to accept my role and play hard when I'm in there," said Scheer. Said Garner, "Daniel Weaver really came up big for us and Tim Scheer continues to play well."

Lavoris Jerry led the Colonels with 18 points.

Southeast began the game slowly as EKU bolted to an early 7-0 lead. The Indians countered by scoring the next 10 points.

The Indians kept the lead for most of the rest of the opening period, going up 24-18 with a little more than six minutes remaining.

EKU used a 10-2 run to grab a 28-26 advantage at the 2:30 mark, but Southeast scored the final nine points of the half to carry a 35-28 edge into the locker room.

Scheer's 17-footer with 1:27 left before halftime pulled the Indians into a 28-28 tie. With 53 seconds left, freshman backup guard Joel Shelton hit a tough bank shot from in close to put Southeast up 30-28.

Stokes got a steal and layup with 41 seconds remaining to make it 32-28, then Shelton drove nearly the length of the court and hit a 3-pointer under tight defensive pressure at the buzzer.

"Joel Shelton really gave us a lift at the end of the first half," Garner said.

Southeast went up 37-28 at the outset of the second half on a Stokes layup.

But the Indians could never shake the Colonels, who battled back to take a 43-41 lead with just under 12 minutes remaining.

After an 11-0 Southeast run fueled by seven points from Scheer and four from Stokes -- seemingly gave the Indians control again as they opened up a 52-43 lead with 8:35 remaining, the Colonels pulled into ties at 55-55 with four minutes left and 59-59 with 1:14 remaining. But after Weaver's go-ahead basket, the Indians were able to finish the game strong.

"I really liked the way we ended the game," said Garner. "We showed a lot of poise and we were able to hit our free throws."