MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Based on the standings, it was expected that Southeast Missouri State University's basketball season would end Tuesday.

But the Indians' 91-84 loss to Morehead State in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament was anything but routine.

After falling behind by 20 points in the first half and by 15 points at halftime, the Indians cut the lead to within three points in the final seconds before MSU held on.

MSU, the OVC regular-season co-champion and No. 2 seed for the eight-team tournament, advances to Friday's tournament semifinals in Nashville, Tenn., at 20-8.

The Indians finish their season with an 11-19 mark and earned plenty of respect from the favored Eagles.

"SEMO always plays really hard, and we knew they could be dangerous," MSU junior guard Ricky Minard said. "We got the big lead and we probably let up some, but you have to give them credit for coming back. It got a little too tight at the end."

When MSU, which hit eight of its first 10 shots, built an early double-figure advantage and opened up leads of 40-20 and 42-22, it appeared that the Eagles would run the Indians out of Johnson Arena.

Even though Southeast pulled to within 52-37 by halftime, MSU's 58.8-percent shooting in the opening period gave little indication that the Indians would be able to rally.

But Southeast did. A 15-5 run over the first six minutes of the second half was capped by sophomore guard Kevin Roberts' unlikely 3-pointer that pulled the Indians to within 57-52.

MSU appeared to take control again as it built its lead back to 69-56 midway through the period.

Again the Indians stormed back, and sophomore guard Derek Winans' 3-pointer with 6:28 remaining cut MSU's lead to 72-68.

Once again MSU answered, scoring nine straight points to go up 81-68. When the Eagles still led by 13 at 83-70, it looked like Southeast was finished.

But not so fast, said the Indians. Sophomore guard Brett Hale's 3-pointer with 1:50 left made it 85-79. And when senior guard Demetrius King drilled a 3-pointer at 1:11, Southeast trailed just 85-82.

After MSU missed a shot, the Indians had a chance to either tie or pull within a point. A turnover foiled those plans, leading to a pair of Chez Marks free throws and an 87-82 MSU lead with 25 seconds left.

Southeast again closed to within three on Winans' driving shot that made it 87-84 with 20 seconds remaining.

Marks made two free throws with 19 seconds left for an 89-84 lead. When Southeast missed a 3-pointer on its ensuing possession, the Indians' upset bid was over.

"I'm really proud of our team for coming back the way they did after getting down so big early. It was a great effort," Southeast coach Gary Garner said. "And we had a chance to tie the game or maybe even win, but we had the big turnover late. We had a few crucial turnovers late that hurt us.

"Morehead State is a very good team, and when you get behind like we did, it's so hard to come back. But our team really thought we could win this game tonight."

Minard, the OVC's second-leading scorer and one of the favorites to win the league's player of the year award, led the Eagles with 30 points, 19 in the second half as he helped his squad hold off Southeast. Minard, who averages 22.3 points per game, hit 12 of 20 shots.

"Minard is a great player," Winans said. "Great players take over when the game is close."

Marks, a senior guard who is the OVC's third-leading scorer, added 22 points for the Eagles. He averages 17.6.

Southeast was led by another big offensive performance from Hale, who scored 24 points on 10-15 shooting, including four of eight 3-pointers. Saturday, Hale had a career-high 31 during a win over Tennessee State in the regular-season finale.

"We had a great comeback,"Hale said. "Getting that far behind hurt us, but we still thought we were going to win the game. It was our last game if we didn't win, but had nothing to lose."

Also scoring in double figures for the Indians were King with 18 points, Winans with 15 and junior forward Damarcus Hence with 13. King hit seven of 12 shots, including three of four 3-pointers, and added six assists. Winans made six of 10 shots, including two of three 3-pointers.

"Demetrius King played a great game," Garner said. "He did a great job on Minard when he was on him, about as good a job as can be done. And he came off the bench and really shot the ball well."

Said King, "We thought we were going to win the game at the end. We got behind, but we never quit."

Junior center Brandon Griffin pulled down nine rebounds, which allowed him to break the school single-season record held by Bud Eley. Griffin finished the year with 314 rebounds. Eley twice grabbed 310 in a season.

Roberts recorded four assists as he solidified his spot as the OVC leader and wound up second on Southeast's single-season list. Roberts finished the year with 179 assists, trailing only Dwayne Rutherford's 200.

Southeast shot 55 percent for the game, including 60 percent in the second half. MSU shot 53.2 percent.

But the Indians had a big disadvantage at the free-throw line. MSU hit 19 of 28 foul shots compared to just six of seven for Southeast.

"I can't believe we shot seven free throws and they shot 28," Garner said.

mmishow@semissourian.com

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