Under the direction of coach C.P. Harris, the 1943 Indians claimed the school's first ever athletic national championship with a 34-32 victory over fellow MIAA conference opponent Northwest Missouri State in the NAIB finals in Kansas City, Mo.

Southeast had defeated Northwest in the previous two regular season meetings that season to claim the MIAA conference title, but the third meeting between the two schools proved to be the most exciting with the Indians pulling away in the game's final seconds.

Southeast junior guard Jack Behrens drained a shot at the top of the key with just seven seconds remaining in the contest to give coach Harris' team the narrow victory and the national title.

The National championship game comeback capped a comeback year for the squad. The Indians lost their first four games of 1942-43 season before winning 19 of their last 21 contests while going 8-0 in MIAA conference play.

On the way to the national crown, the Indians dropped some of the country's top small colleges of the era with wins over Dakota Wesleyan, Westminster College, East Washington State and Murray State with an average margin of victory of 10.6 in the postseason.

All five Southeast starters were named to either first or second team all-conference. Behrens, Jack Russell and Carl "Ben" Bidewell made MIAA first team while Rolla Anderson and Jack Klosterman were named to the conference second team for the 19-6 national champions.

The Road to the Championship

W  50-30  vs.  Dakota Wesleyan University
W  56-33  vs.  Westminster
W  57-51  vs.  East Washington State
W  38-36  vs.  Murray State
W  34-32  vs.  Northwest Missouri State