Jan. 14, 2008

Cape Girardeau, Mo. - Senior basketball forward Brandon Foust, 6-6, has been lost for the remainder of the season with a knee injury suffered in Saturday night's game at Austin Peay.

Foust, a preseason all-Ohio Valley Conference choice, injured his knee when landing from a dunk shot with 11:57 remaining in the game. He had an MRI exam today in Cape Girardeau and surgery will be required.

"Losing Brandon for the rest of the season is a blow for our basketball team, but I really feel for Brandon," said Southeast coach Scott Edgar. "He was playing some of the best basketball of his career and was putting together not only an all-OVC season but an OVC Player of the Year type season. It is hard to think that his collegiate basketball career is over."

Basketball trainer Scott Parker said Foust would have surgery in three or four weeks.

Foust is originally from Columbus, Ohio and played his first two seasons at Oklahoma before transferring to Southeast. He sat out one season under NCAA transfer rules and was named to the all-OVC Newcomer Team last year after averaging 12.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in 31 games. He led the team in scoring, rebounding and blocks.

Foust was leading the Redhawks in rebounding this season with an average of 6.4 per game. He had 59 rebounds in his last six games. He had 10 rebounds vs. Tulsa, 11 vs. Central Methodist, 12 vs. Eastern Kentucky, 10 vs. Eastern Illinois and 12 against Murray State. He had double-doubles in four of his last six games with 19 points and 10 rebounds at Tulsa, 12 points and 11 rebounds vs. Central Methodist, 25 points and 10 rebounds vs. Eastern Illinois and 10 points and 12 boards vs. Murray State. Foust averaged 11.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. His 25 points vs. Eastern Illinois was a career high. Foust had 10 points and four rebounds at Austin Peay before going down with a knee injury with 11:57 remaining.

Selected as a co-winner of the OVC Player of the Week honors on Jan. 7 after averaging a double-double in wins over Eastern Kentucky and Eastern Illinois, Foust averaged 16.5 points and 11 rebounds per contest and also added 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

For the season, Foust averaged 11.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. He shot .481 from the field, 370 from three and .780 from the free throw line.

For his career at Southeast, Foust played in 49 games and averaged 11.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.

"Brandon was not a prolific scorer or rebounder, but he had the ability to make the other players around him better," Edgar said. "We will miss his leadership, toughness and steady play. We will have to pull together as a team. I will have to coach better, the players will have to play better and we will have to develop a chemistry that can keep us in the race for the OVC championship."

The Redhawks will play at Tennessee State on Thursday, 7:30 p.m, at the Gentry Center in Nashville and will meet Tennessee Tech at the Eblen Center in Cookeville on Saturday, 1 p.m.