~ Southeast dropped into a tie for fourth place with its 82-78 loss to the Eagles.

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team played an impressive final four minutes Thursday night.

But it's what happened during the other 36 minutes that had the Redhawks feeling so blue.

Morehead State built a 20-point second-half lead and held off a furious Southeast charge to post an 82-78 victory.

"I'm very disappointed with the defeat tonight," Southeast coach Scott Edgar said, looking as glum as the tone of his voice.

Southeast Missouri State sophomore Roderick Pearson drew a foul from Morehead State's Leon Buchanan early in the game Thursday, January 24, 2008, at the Show Me Center. (Kit Doyle)

The Redhawks suffered their fifth straight defeat, and they also lost for the second straight time at the Show Me Center.

Southeast fell to 11-10 overall and 6-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Redhawks are tied for fourth place in the 11-team league, one game out of third place, but also just one game removed from ninth place.

"When you're struggling like we are, it seems like everything goes against you," senior center Mike Rembert said.

Most things went against the Redhawks for the majority of the night as Morehead State (9-9, 7-4), the OVC's surprise team, notched its fifth straight win.

After a tight opening 15 minutes that featured eight lead changes and five ties, the Eagles spurted toward the end of the first half and carried a 34-22 advantage into the break.

Southeast's Jaycen Herring looked to pass around Morehead State defender Maze Stallworth as he drove under the basket. (Kit Doyle)

Less than six minutes into the second half, the Eagles' lead ballooned to 20 points on a 3-pointer by sophomore guard Maze Stallworth that made it 49-29 with 14 minutes, 6 seconds remaining.

"They started getting aggressive with us and started slowly pulling out," sophomore guard Marcus Rhodes said. "It was the story of the game. We had to play catchup and fell short."

But just barely.

The Redhawks still appeared to be hopelessly out of it as Morehead State led 66-51 with under 4 minutes remaining.

Southeast exploded with 27 points over the final 3:34 and gave the crowd hope for a miraculous comeback.

Junior wing Jaycen Herring scored 13 of his season-high 23 points in the final 3 minutes, including 11 in the final minute, as Southeast kept chipping away at the deficit.

Herring's layup with 6 seconds left made it 80-76, and the Eagles turned the ball over in their backcourt just a second later.

Herring drew a foul without the ball being inbounded, and his two free throws made it 80-78 with 5 seconds still to play.

But Stallworth hit two free throws -- the Eagles were 8-of-8 from the line in the final 30 seconds -- to nail down the victory.

"We played our hearts out at the end of the game," Herring said. "We played totally different than at the beginning. We just have to come out strong for 40 minutes."

Edgar said the Redhawks had strong practices this week, and he expected the type of performance that marked their 6-0 OVC start.

That's why he said he was "just a little confused right now. ... It seemed like we had gotten some step back in us."

Although Edgar said the late rally was a "bright spot," he added: "When you get down that much, you just about have to be perfect. It's hard to be perfect."

It didn't seem like it would come back to haunt them because it appeared doubtful the Redhawks would make things close, but 13 missed free throws in 28 attempts loomed large for Southeast.

The Redhawks were just 5-of-13 from the line in the first half, when they shot 30.8 percent from the field.

"Some nights they fall and some nights they don't," Rembert said of the foul shots. "Obviously free throws hurt us."

Southeast shot 55.3 percent from the field in the second half, when they scored 56 points, including 49 points over the final 14 minutes.

Morehead State shot 40 percent, but the Eagles went 36-of-48 (75 percent) from the line.

Thirty-two of the Eagles' free-throw attempts came in the second half, many after Southeast was forced to foul.

Sophomore forward Calvin Williams was Southeast's only other double-figure scorer as he had 11 points.

Stallworth and senior guard Jamyron Steward each scored 21 points to pace the Eagles.

"I knew Morehead had a good little team," Edgar said of the squad picked 10th in the OVC preseason poll. "Coach [Donnie] Tyndall is doing a really good job."

Southeast visits Murray State on Saturday for a game televised nationally on ESPN2.

The Racers started the Redhawks' current slide with a 79-51 romp at the Show Me Center on Jan. 7.

"We know we still have a good team," Rembert said. "We just have to hang in there."