Southeast struggles offensively in loss to Austin Peay

Southeast Missouri State has had plenty of miserable offensive performances this season -- but Saturday night's might have topped them all.

The Redhawks were a picture of ineptitude for 35 minutes, and not even a rally over the final 5 minutes could pull them out of their abyss.

The result was a 63-56 loss to Austin Peay at the Show Me Center as the Redhawks fell to 6-9 overall and a ninth-place 3-6 in the 11-team Ohio Valley Conference. The Governors are 10-6 and 5-3.

"Our offense was real bad tonight," Southeast senior guard Roy Booker said. "You have to tip your hat to them. They played good, hard defense. But we never found any rhythm."

Southeast, which had only 36 points with a little more than 5 minutes remaining, shot 33.3 percent from the field (19 of 57) and 25 percent from 3-point range (6 of 24). That 33.3 percent mark is the Redhawks' second-worst of the season, and their worst in OVC play.

"We just could not make baskets," Southeast coach Gary Garner said.

Austin Peay did not exactly light things up offensively, shooting 39.1 percent (18 of 46).

But the Govs hit nine of their first 13 shots in the second half to pull away from a 22-22 halftime tie and open up a commanding lead.

"Defensively, we were fine," Garner said. "But against a good defensive team like Austin Peay, when you get good shots, you have to make them, because you won't get that many.

"I think we settled for too many 3-pointers. We didn't get the ball inside enough."

Booker, the OVC's leading scorer, was just about Southeast's only offensive threat, as he pumped in a career-high 33 points. He hit nine of 22 shots, including five of 11 3-pointers, and also made 10 of 12 free throws.

Southeast's next-leading scorer was junior forward Andrais Thornton with eight points. The Redhawks' second-leading scorer on the season, junior guard Terrick Willoughby, missed all seven of his shots and did not score.

Senior center Waylon Francis grabbed 11 rebounds, as Southeast controlled the boards 40-32.

Senior center Zac Schlader led the Govs with 14 points, and senior guard Maurice Hampton had 13.

Freshman guard Landon Shipley added 11 points off the bench, hitting three of six 3-pointers. The performance was especially sweet for Shipley because both his parents attended Southeast, with his father Dave playing basketball at the university from 1975 through 1979.

"It was fun," said Shipley, who grew up in St. Louis and attended Lafayette High School. "I heard people on the sidelines, saying 'I watched your dad play.' It was neat to beat the team he played for."

The Redhawks, who never led, fell behind by 10 points in the first half but rallied for a 22-22 halftime tie behind 16 points from Booker.

While Southeast's offense continued to flounder, Austin Peay's got going early in the second half, helping the Govs open a 47-31 lead with less than 8 minutes remaining.

Trailing 51-35 with under 6 minutes left, Southeast finally showed signs of life and eventually closed within 57-53 on junior guard Eric Burtin's 3-pointer with 50 seconds left. But the Govs hit their free throws to close things out.

"We dug ourselves too big a hole," Booker said.