THE LATEST LINE: SE SUFFERS FROM JEKYLL-HYDE SYNDROME IN TOURNAMENT

KANSAS CITY -- Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball coach Gary Garner experienced a wide range of emotions over the first two days of the Energia Systems Thanksgiving Tournament.

Friday, Garner probably was left wondering if the Indians would even reach double digits in wins this season after a shaky performance against Toledo. Southeast lost the first-round tourney contest 59-43.

But about 24 hours later, Garner was feeling much better about his squad. Granted, Robert Morris will never be mistaken for Duke or some of the nation's other top powers -- the Colonials are simply a bad team -- but the Indians did look a whole lot better as they posted a 78-53 consolation victory.

Garner correctly pointed out that it's much easier to look good against a weak opponent than it is a strong one. And he acknowledged that Toledo -- which beat Auburn Saturday to advance to the Energia Systems championship game -- had plenty to do with the way the Indians played Friday.

But Garner also correctly pointed out that the Indians simply looked like they had a lot more energy against Robert Morris than they did against Toledo. Southeast certainly executed its offense much better against the Colonials, whose defensive effort was not exactly stellar.

Now Southeast still has the opportunity to have a solid tournament. Before the Indians left for Kansas City, Garner said it would be great if they could win two of their three games. After losing the first contest, that became an extremely tough chore. And it still will be, because in today's fifth-place game the Indians face tough Cleveland State, which is coached by Rollie Massimino, whose Villanova team won a national title in the mid-1980s.

Before the tournament, Garner said the Indians could lose two of the three games and still have a good basketball team. That's how solid the tourney field is overall, with only Robert Morris appearing to be a bit out of its league.

After watching the Indians play Saturday, Garner no doubt believes he has a good basketball team, although one that still has an extremely long way to go. He considers the Indians to be very much a work in progress, as are most squads at this early stage of the season.

But that's the beauty of college basketball. It's a long season, with most teams playing close to 30 games. There is plenty of time for improvement, which is why most coaches never read too much into any one game. And that's why Garner believes the Indians will improve plenty during the course of the campaign, leading up to what he hopes will be another strong run at an Ohio Valley Conference championship.

* The Energia Systems Thanksgiving Tournament is being played at historic Municipal Auditorium, which Garner said brought back fond memories for him.

As a standout guard for the University of Missouri in the 1960s, Garner and the Tigers played each year at Municipal Auditorium during the Big Eight Conference Holiday Tournament that was held around Christmas.

Municipal Auditorium has also been the site of more NCAA Final Fours -- nine -- than any other facility in the country.

* The area high school basketball season began this past week for a handful of teams, but things will really get going this week as just about every squad tips things off.

Several annual early-season tournaments will highlight this week's schedule, including boys tourneys at Oran and Woodland, the I-55 Classic for boys in Scott City and boys and girls events in Farmington.

* Kudos to Zimmer Radio's Erik Sean for the solid first season he had broadcasting Southeast football games.

And Zimmer Radio's Mike Legg is off to a strong start as usual in his role as the play-by-play voice of Southeast men's basketball.