INDIANS HOPE TO EXTRACT WIN FROM EIU's LANTZ GYM

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- The Eastern Illinois men's basketball team has lost just once at home all season, that coming after the Panthers led Murray State by 15 points before faltering down the stretch against the Ohio Valley Conference leader.

Taking the above into consideration, Southeast Missouri State University coach Gary Garner knows how difficult a task the Indians (18-6 overall, 11-4 OVC) face tonight when they take on the Panthers (14-10, 9-6) in a 7 o'clock tipoff at Lantz Gym.

"Any time you go on the road, it's always a big challenge, and it's especially going to be tough against a team playing as well as Eastern Illinois," said Garner. "I don't think their place (Lantz Gym) is tougher than others to play, I just think it's a matter of a good team playing at home.

"Eastern Illinois has a very good basketball team. That they've only lost once at home all year tells you that, and that they were able to lead Murray State by as many points as they did really tells you how solid they are."

On the other hand, Garner figures the Indians should take some confidence into the game, since they have won in Lantz Gym the past two seasons and have captured the last five meetings overall between the squads.

"We've played well and won there the last two years, so we should have confidence we can do it again," Garner said.

One thing Garner is certain of is that the Indians will be seeing a much different EIU squad than the one that was routed by Southeast 77-66 on Jan. 22 in Cape Girardeau.

The Panthers were missing two of their top players for that game as Merv Joseph and Marc Polite were out with knee injuries.

While Joseph was lost for the season, Polite has since come back. The 6-foot-5 forward averages 13.2 points per game to rank second on the Panthers, and he is a dangerous 3-point weapon at better than 42 percent.

"They'll be a lot different than when we played them last time," said Garner. "They had just lost Joseph and Polite when we played them and they were down.

"Now they've got Polite back and he's one of the best players in the conference. He's like a 6-5 guard who shoots the three and puts the ball on the floor. He's tough to defend."

EIU's top player is explosive 6-2 guard Kyle Hill, the OVC's third-leading scorer at 19 points per game. He is also a solid 3-point shooter at 36 percent.

"Hill is one of the top players in the conference," Garner said. "They're a little like Murray State in that they have two players who are big scorers. Like we always try to do in that kind of situation, we hope we can hold them below their averages."

Matt Britton, the Panthers' point guard, averages10.2 points per game and shoots nearly 47 percent from 3-point range. Another solid performer has been freshman guard Henry Domercant (9.4 ppg).

The Panthers' top rebounder, now that Joseph is out, is 6-7 center John Smith. He grabs almost six boards per game.

EIU is tied for third in the OVC and the Panthers still have a realistic chance of catching the second-place Indians if they can prevail tonight.

And even if the Panthers don't finish second, they are currently in line to be one of four teams that host first-round OVC Tournament games.

"They've got a lot to play for, just like we do, and it's a very big game for both teams," said Garner.

Southeast will be trying to bounce back from last Saturday's 77-60 loss to Murray State that knocked the Indians from the OVC's top spot. Southeast trails the front-running Racers by one game, with each team having three contests remaining.

"The OVC race is not over yet," said Garner. "We've still got a chance to catch Murray State, but we can't worry about what they do. We can't control what they do. We can only control what we do."