Dec. 21, 2000

Basketball Game Information

Sierra Providence SunClassic Tournament

Don Haskins Center, El Paso, Texas

Dec. 27-28, 2000

Southeast Headquarters, Radisson Suite Inn El Paso, Texas (915) 772-3333

Opening Round, Wednesday, Dec. 27 8 p.m. (CST) Texas El Paso vs. Jackson State 10 p.m. (CST) Southeast Missouri vs. Houston

Southeast Missouri (7-3)

Probable Starters Ppg. Rpg.

F 20 Tim Scheer, 6-7, So. 3.3 2.3

F 15 Emmanuel McCuthison, 6-4,Sr. 15.9 5.3

C 50 Nyah Jones, 6-11, Sr. 5.9 3.2

G 12 Michael Stokes, 6-0, Sr. 12.4 3.7

G 05 Antonio Short, 6-2, Sr. 12.7 3.4

Off the Bench

03 Amory Sanders, 6-1, Sr. 10.7 2.1

22 Joel Shelton, 5-9, Fr. 2.0 0.8

23 Drew DeMond, 6-7, So. 3.3 3.3

24 Damaracus Hence, 6-6, Fr. 2.5 1.2

30 Monte Gordon, 6-5, Jr. 3.2 2.2

34 Matt Morris, 6-2, Sr. 0.0 0.0

44 Daniel Weaver, 6-8, So. 3.3 2.1

50 Terry Rogers, 6-10, Jr. 5.1 4.7

THE TEAM: Southeast Missouri State is 7-3 overall and 0-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Indians are 2-0 vs. Missouri Valley Conference opponents with wins over Southern Illinois and Southwest Missouri Southeast also has wins over Truman State, Missouri-Rolla, Robert Morris, Cleveland State and Campbell with losses to Toledo, Mississippi Valley State and Tennessee Tech. Last season Southeast was 24-7, won a co-championship in the Ohio Valley Conference and won the OVC post-season tournament. Southeast advanced to the NCAA tournament where the Indians lost to Louisiana State 74-71.

THE COACH: Gary Garner is 65-32 in his fourth season at Southeast and is 312-96 in his 18th year as a collegiate head coach. He won a Division II national championship when he guided Fort Hays State to a 34-0 season in 1995-96. Known for having teams ready at tournament time, Garner has taken teams to the finals of conference tournaments in six of the last seven years and has won five of those title contests.

SOUTHEAST NOTES

STOKES IS OVC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior guard Michael Stokes was honored as the OVC Player of the Week on Dec. 18 after scoring 20 points in the Indian win over Southwest Missouri. Stokes made 6-10 field goals and was 8-8 from the line while dishing out four assists. He also held SMS point guard Robert Yanders to no points. Stokes, who had a career high 10 assists in the win over Campbell, averages 12.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. He leads the team in assists, steals and free throw percentage (.800), is second in scoring and third in rebounding.

INDIAN DEFENSE RANKS HIGH IN OVC: In the latest OVC stats, Southeast ranks second in scoring defense, second in field goal percentage defense and 3-point field goal percentage defense. Southeast gives up 66.7 points per game while allowing opponents to shoot just .405 from the field and .313 from three. Last season, Southeast, Southeast ranked fifth nationally in field goal percentage defense (38%) and 175h nationally in scoring defense (61%)..

SANDERS LEADS OVC IN THREES: Amory Sanders leads the OVC in 3-pointers per game with 2.67. He ranks second in 3-point field goal percentage with .545. Sanders, who is the first guard off the bench, was 7-10 from three in the win over Robert Morris and is 24-44 for the season.

McCUTHISON LEADS TEAM IN SCORING AND REBOUNDING.: Senior Emmanuel McCuthison, who has been in double figures every game this season, is the Southeast leader in points and rebounds. He is averaging 15.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. McCuthison had a career high 29 points against Southern Illinois. Against SIU, McCuthison sizzled in the first half when he scored 20 points with 6-10 from the field, 4-5 from three and 4-6 from the line. For the game, McCuthison, nicknamed e-mail, was 9-18 from the field, 6-9 from three and 5-8 from the line. Earlier this season, he was named to the all-tournament team in the Energia Systems Thanksgiving Tournament in Kansas City. He averaged 15.3 points and four rebounds per game in the three tournament games while shooting 61% from the field, 50% from three and 83% from the line

SHORT LIGHTS IT UP: Senior guard Antonio Short had a hot first half against Campbell with 17 points including 5-5 from the floor, 4-4 from three and 3-3 from the line.

SCHEER MOVES TO STARTING ROLE: Sophomore Tim Scheer got his first career start against Southwest Missouri and was again in the starting lineup vs. Campbell. He averages 3.3 points and 2.3 rebounds per game while playhing an average of 13.2 minutes per game. Scheer is the third player to start at the four position. Drew DeMond has started seven games while Monte Gordon started one game.

POST BY COMMITTEE: Southeast continues to rotate three players at the post position. Nyah Jones averages 18.9 minutes per game, Terry Rogers averages 17.3 minutes per game and Daniel Weaver who plays at the four position averages 9.3 minutes per game. Jones averages 5.9 points and 3.2 rebounds per game, Rogers averages 5.1 points and 4.7 rebounds while Weaver averages 3.3 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.

DEMOND BLOCKS CONTINUE: Junior Drew DeMond continues to be a force on defense. Last season in limited playing time, DeMond had 26 blocked shots in 23 games played. After 10 games this season, DeMond has a team-high 13 blocks including a season-high three blocks against Southwest Missouri.

INJURIES: Amory Sanders, who is suffering from a deep stone bruise on his foot, did not play against Campbell but is expected to play in the SunClassic Tournament. Monte Gordon has missed the last three games because of recurring back problems and although the back still bothers him, he will be available for action at El Paso. Antonio Short has tendonitis in his knees and a bad back but will start against Houston.

MORRIS RETURNS: Senior guard Matt Morris will be available for action in the tournament after being sidelined with mononucleosis since the final exhibition game.

SOUTHEAST PICKED THIRD IN OVC: Southeast has been picked to finish third in the league race in balloting of league coaches and sports information directors. Austin Peay was picked to win the OVC followed by Murray State, Southeast Missouri, Eastern Illinois and Tennessee Tech.

STOKES PRESEASON ALL-OVC: Senior point guard Michael Stokes was selected first team preseason all-OVC. Ranked as the 16th best point guard in Division I basketball by the Sporting News, Stokes was third team all-OVC and a member of the OVC all-turnament team last season. Antonio Short was selected as honorable mention preseason all-OVC.

AT THE SHOW ME CENTER: Southeast is 5-1 at the Show Me Center this season and is 160-46 (.777) since the Show Me Center opened in 1987. Last season, Southeast again led the OVC in attendance with 5,066 fans per game. After six games this season, Southeast averages 4,886 fans per game.

NEXT : After the Sierra Providence SunClassic Tournament, Southeast will return to Ohio Valley Conference action with road games at Tennessee State on Jan. 4 and at Austin Peay on Jan. 6. The Austin Peay game will be nationally televised beginning at 11 a.m. on ESPN. The next Southeast home game will be Jan. 11 against Murray State.