CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO. (December 16, 2000) - Led by Michael Stokes' 20 points and four assists, Southeast Missouri State University defeated Southwest Missouri State 73-71 on Saturday night at the Show Me Center.

Southwest scored quickly off the opening tip and the teams were close for the first part of the opening frame. After the game was tied at 13 Southeast went on a 15-4 run over the next 9:00 to take a commanding 28-17 lead. The run started with an Amory Sanders jumper and the Indians lead reached its zenith for the night when Sanders converted an old-fashioned three-point play. Southwest would respond, however, using an 8-2 spurt to close the halftime gap to five, at 30-25.

The second half was controlled by the Indians, as Southwest only managed two leads. The Bears last lead came with 8:21 remaining, at 52-51. Southeast would manage to hold a narrow advantage the rest of the way as they hit 16 of 22 free throws down the stretch to hang on.

As the Bears closed the gap in the final minutes and trailed by only two with seven seconds to play, Southeast almost gave the game away as six players came onto the floor after a timeout. Fortunately for Southeast the sixth man got off the floor just in time and Southwest failed to get off a shot at the buzzer that could have tied the game.

For the game Southeast shot 77% from the line which made up for its second straight poor shooting performance from three, as the Indians connected on only 2-14 from long range.

Southeast put three scorers in double figures with Stokes scoring 20, Sanders 12 and Emmanuel McCuthison adding 10. Southwest was led by Mike Wallace with 21. Daniel Novak and Charles Gaines added 13 apiece for the Bears.

The win was the first for Southeast against the Bears since the 1981-82 season when the Indians won 58-54. The teams have only meet twice since that game, with Southwest winning both, including a 67-56 decision in 1998 by a Bears team that would eventually go onto the NCAA Sweet 16.