Nov. 18, 2009

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By Jeff Honza
Southeast Missouri State Sports Information

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Brandon Reed scored 17 points to lead three starters in double figures, as Arkansas State (2-0) defeated Southeast Missouri State (0-2), 73-49, Wednesday night in the Redhawks home-opener at the Show Me Center.

Reed shot 6-of-11 from the field, 2-of-4 from three-point range and 3-of-5 from the free throw line in his first start of the season. He also added 11 first-half points.

Jejuan Brown followed with a double-double 11 points and 13 rebounds, and Martavius Adams, a 6-foot-8, 255-pound transfer out of Oklahoma State, chipped in 10 points to round out the Red Wolves starters in double-digits.

"I want to thank our fans for coming and this was a great night for basketball," said head coach Dickey Nutt. "We're disappointed. We didn't think we played anywhere near what we're capable of. We got ourselves in a hole and couldn't catch up."

Southeast managed to get good looks, but simply couldn't get shots to fall from the opening tip.

The Redhawks missed 10 of their first 11 field goals and went scoreless for over eight minutes, as ASU pulled away early.

After true freshman Derek Thompson sunk a jumper to pull Southeast within two (4-2) at the 18:24 mark, ASU capitalized on the Redhawks frigid shooting with an 8-0 run to build a 10-point lead. Rashad Allison's pair of free throws ended the jaunt which gave the Red Wolves a 12-2 lead with 11:03 left.

Thompson finally ended Southeast's scoring drought when he drove the lane and banked in a jumper with 10:16 remaining, but the Red Wolves answered with a 12-4 surge.

Allison added four more free throws and Brandon Peterson made a couple baskets to help get ASU a 24-8 lead with 7:07 on the clock.

ASU, after holding Southeast to under 10 points until the 5:45 mark, later cruised to a 43-21 halftime lead.

Southeast made just 7-of-23 (30.4 percent) field goals and did not make a three-pointer (0-of-4) in the opening stanza.

Meanwhile, ASU was red-hot from the field, shooting 52 percent (13-of-25). The Red Wolves also made 57 percent (4-of-7) of their three-point attempts and went 13-of-15 at the charity stripe during their big half.

While Southeast had problems scoring in the first half, it was ASU which struggled early on in the second.

The Red Wolves missed their first five field goals and the Redhawks used a 10-4 run in a span of 7:01 to narrow ASU's lead to 47-33 with just under 13 minutes to play. LaMont Russell and Marland Smith each scored three points during that stretch, which was capped by Russell's layup with 12:59 to go.

That, however, was as close as the Redhawks would get.

ASU went on to build its biggest lead of the game at 73-49 on Adams' layup with 32 seconds left, before the Red Wolves polished off their second win of the season.

ASU scored 29 of its points at the free throw line, where it attempted 20 more shots than Southeast. The Red Wolves made 29-of-43 free throws to the Redhawks 14-of-23.

The Red Wolves played without their top player, Donald Boone, who suffered a season-ending knee injury two days ago against MacMurray College.

""For our team to absorb the loss of our best returning player and play as well as we did, impressed me," said ASU head coach John Brady. "It was a good first time out for eight new players after the loss of Donald, and it was good for us to come up here and win this game."

Southeast shot 32 percent (17-of-54) from the field and just 14.3 percent (1-of-7) from three-point land.

Anthony Allison led all Southeast scorers with 10 points, his second-straight game in double figures. Thompson, who made his first career start, followed with nine points. Cameron Butler added a game-high eight rebounds for the Redhawks, as well.

Nutt, who compiled a 189-187 record in 13 seasons as head coach at Arkansas State, coached against his former team for the first time.

"I love where I am and I love our program," said Nutt. "I certainly have feelings for Arkansas State. It certainly was not a grudge night at all. I have great memories and I'm thankful for the time I did have there."

Southeast travels to Northern Illinois Sunday. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m., CT, at the Convocation Center.

Notes: Rae-Vonn Banks played eight minutes in his first career game...Banks missed both exhibition games and the Redhawks season-opener before being declared eligible by the NCAA...F Eric McCrary missed tonight's game due to the flu.