Jan. 23, 2004

Clarksville, Tenn. - After a heart breaking 74-73 road loss at Tennessee Tech on Thursday night, the Southeast Missouri State basketball team will challenge league leading Austin Peay on Saturday, 2 p.m., at the Dunn Center in Clarksville.

Southeast (9-7, 2-3 OVC) fell at Tech when William Moore sunk a free throw with 2.8 seconds remaining. The Indians had battled back from an 18-point deficit in the first half to tie the game several times in the second half, but could never take the lead. Brandon Griffin led Southeast with 22 points and nine rebounds.

Austin Peay (9-7, 6-0 OVC) defeated Eastern Illinois on Thursday night for its sixth straight OVC win. It was the first OVC home game of the season for the Governors who are the defending OVC champions.

The Governors beat Southeast 52-48 at the Show Me Center on Jan. 8. Reserve center Zac Schrader led the well-blanced Austin Peay attack with 12 points while Griffin led Southeast with 17 points.

"It was a tough loss at Tech, but we will just have to bounce back against the top team in the conference," said Southeast coach Gary Garner who will be going for his 350th career coaching victory. "I expect a low scoring game at Peay because both teams are strong defensively. If we shoot the ball well, we will have a chance for the upset."

The game will be televised live by Fox Sports Net South and will be tape delayed at 2 a.m. Sunday morning on Fox Sports Net Midwest.