THE LATEST LINE: INDIANS EYE SHOWDOWN AT MURRAY ST.

It's showdown time in the Ohio Valley Conference.

And Southeast Missouri State University's Indians are involved.

If you're a SEMO basketball fan who has been waiting for the Indians to finally make a breakthrough in the OVC, then you must be flying high these days.

The Indians and Murray State will square off Thursday night in Murray, Ky., with first place in the OVC on the line. SEMO trails the Racers by one game after both squads suffered upset losses Saturday night.

This has certainly been a breakthrough season for the Indians of coach Gary Garner, who in just two years has got his team positioned among the OVC's elite.

In fact, the Indians are already assured of by far their best season since joining the OVC eight years ago. SEMO has clinched at least second place in the 10-team league; never before had the Indians finished higher than fourth.

But the Indians -- and the ultra-competitive Garner -- aren't just satisfied with second. They want to win the championship. And in order to have a shot at doing that, SEMO must knock off the powerful Racers, who have the nation's longest Division I home winning streak, having won an amazing 40 straight on their own court.

Murray's new Regional Special Events Center seats 8,500 and Thursday's game could very well be a sellout -- with a host of SEMO fans sure to be in attendance.

What a night of basketball it should be.

* And on the subject of SEMO basketball, how about the job coach Ed Arnzen's Otahkians are doing this season.

After winning just 13 games the past two years combined, the Otahkians are riding high with a 1 1/2-game lead in the OVC standings. They appear to be in prime position to win their first-ever OVC championship.

Arnzen and his squad deserve all kinds of kudos for the turnaround season they're having.

Let's just hope they can keep it up the rest of the way and bring home the championship.

And, who knows, maybe both SEMO basketball teams will wind up with conference titles.

Wouldn't that be something.

* SEMO's men and women could very well haul in some of the OVC's top end-of-the season awards.

Garner and Arnzen should claim coach-of-the year honors since both teams are challenging for championships even though the Indians were picked fifth and the Otahkians eighth in the league's preseason poll.

To me, there is no doubt that Bud Eley, the Indians' fabulous center, should be named player of the year, although Murray's Isaac Spencer will probably get some support. But no player in the league impacts a game as much as Eley.

On the women's side, first-year standouts Paula Corder and Pam Iversen are among the prime candidates for newcomer of the year and freshman of the year, respectively. Both are having tremendous seasons and are two of the big reasons for the Otahkians' dramatic improvement.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian