THE LATEST LINE: SEASON-ENDING LOSS POINTED OUT GOOD, BAD WITH INDIANS

Tuesday's crushing 72-70 overtime loss at Austin Peay pretty much presented a microcosm of both the good and bad regarding Southeast Missouri State University's 2000-2001 men's basketball season.

As for the good, the Indians became a very accomplished team by the end of the year, as evidenced by their five straight wins to end the regular season and their outplaying favored Austin Peay most of the way before falling short in the opening round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

As for the bad, the Indians' inability to close out a game after having a decent lead once again came back to haunt them as they were denied a third straight trip to Nashville, Tenn., for the OVC tourney's final four.

The end result was an 18-12 overall record and an 8-8, fifth-place finish in the nine-team league. Those figures were, by coach Gary Garner's own admission, disappointing because the Indians expected to seriously challenge for a repeat of last year's OVC regular-season and tourney championships.

Now the mission for Garner and his staff will be to try and get the Indians back to the top of the conference, no easy task considering that the OVC seems to be getting better and better every year.

To be sure, the Indians have some major holes to fill. They lose their top three scorers in sensational point guard Michael Stokes, swingman Emmanuel McCuthison and shooting guard Antonio Short. Also gone will be guard Amory Sanders, the nation's leading 3-point shooter, and center Nyah Jones.

That's some big-time talent lost to graduation, but there are definitely plenty of pieces to work with. Virtually the entire front line that came on so strong toward the end of the season and keyed the strong finish will return, along with several other players.

And sitting out this season were three guards -- led by Villanova transfer Bobby Smith at the point and former Shawnee (Ill.) star Derek Winans -- who figure to make major contributions.

Garner and his assistants will be hot on the recruiting trail in search of an impact player or two -- particularly inside -- who can help get the Indians back over the hump next year.

Whether that happens remains to be seen. But this season proved two things that in sports are fairly familiar themes.

It's always tough for a team to repeat a championship. And when a squad does fall short, it doesn't take long for some of its fans to get restless.

The 2000-01 Indians experienced both sides of that coin.

* Even though SEMO won't be involved for the first time in three years, I still just love following all of the tournament championship games from the smaller, unheralded conferences that are being televised by ESPN this week.

With very few exceptions, the teams that advance to the tourney finals of the bigger conferences are assured of getting NCAA bids anyway, so those games lack the urgency of the smaller leagues, where it's a do-or-die situation to qualify for the "Big Dance."

* Former SEMO baseball standout Kerry Robinson, a veteran of several minor league baseball seasons who has spent some brief periods in the majors, is now trying to earn a spot with his hometown St. Louis Cardinals.

Robinson is with the Cardinals during spring training in Jupiter, Fla., as a non-roster outfielder. He spent last season in Triple A with the New York Yankees organization.

* It's only 11 games into the season, but it's looking more and more like the pitching staff of SEMO's baseball team could rival some of the best mound corps in the history of the program.

With those hurlers alone, SEMO figures to make a strong run at the OVC championship. And if the offense -- which coach Mark Hogan knew would be a question mark entering the campaign -- comes around, then the Indians could really be on to something.

* Major congratulations are in order for the Jackson High School girls basketball team, which will be making yet another trip to the Class 4A Final Four.