Southeast falls in exhibition

Harding University handed Southeast an 85-81 loss.

By Marty Mishow ~ Southeast Missourian

Harding University proved to be as tough a final exhibition opponent as Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball coach Gary Garner expected.

So tough, in fact, that the Division II Bison from Searcy, Ark., disappointed an announced crowd of 2,125 at the Show Me Center Saturday night by rallying past a shorthanded Southeast squad 85-81.

Southeast, which went 1-1 in exhibition play, opens the season Friday on the road against Bradley.

"Harding is a good basketball team. I knew they would be," said Garner, whose squad had just eight available players as four are out with injuries. "We're disappointed that we lost."

And the Bison, who went 18-10 last season, were just as excited to exit Cape Girardeau with a win over a Division I program -- even if it won't count on their record.

"I'm sure coach Garner has a hard time getting his players as excited as our guys are. That's human nature," Harding coach Jeff Morgan said. "I'm as shocked as anybody. We don't have anybody on our team that's played more than one year in our program."

But it was obvious that Harding has plenty of talent, led by 5-foot-9 junior guard Lonnie Smith and 6-6 sophomore forward Matt Hall, last season's freshman of the year in the Gulf South Conference.

Smith scored a game-high 24 points while the acrobatic Hall had 22 points. Senior guard Emmanuel White and sophomore guard Cole Kee both added 12 points. Kee helped spark Harding's comeback with four second-half 3-pointers.

"Hall, Smith and White could probably start for just about any team in our conference," Garner said.

Junior college transfer center Ketshner Guerrier had his second straight strong exhibition performance with a team-high 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting. Guerrier scored 18 points during last weekend's 90-41 rout of NAIA Harris-Stowe.

"Ketshner can score around the basket," Garner said.

Returning senior guard Brett Hale scored 16 points, returning senior forward Dainmon Gonner had 14 points, returning senior forward Reggie Golson added 12 points and nine rebounds, and returning sophomore guard Terrick Willoughby contributed 10 points. Gonner and Golson both fouled out late.

"They were a good team and they played together, but it's disappointing to lose," said Gonner, who had 21 points in the first exhibition game. "We weren't rebounding and we didn't stop their penetration."

Rebounding was probably the one aspect of the game that disappointed Garner the most. Harding won the battle of the boards 41-30.

"That was our biggest problem on the night," Garner said.

Garner also didn't like Southeast's offense even though the squad shot a solid 48.3 percent from the field. Harding eclipsed that at 49.2 percent, and the Bison hit eight of 15 3-pointers.

"We just didn't execute very well," Garner said. "Our offense is so bad right now, but I'm not worried for us offensively. Our offense will come.

"Not to make excuses, but we've been so shorthanded in practice, we haven't been able to scrimmage."

While senior guard Derek Winans -- the team's leading scorer the last three years -- still has not yet practiced because of a stress fracture, also missing Saturday's game were returning senior guard Mike Nelke (sprained wrist), junior college transfer guard Ryan Belcher (sprained ankle) and junior college transfer forward James White (knee).

Garner expects Belcher to return to practice in a few days but he's not sure about the others.

"We need to get healthier," Garner said.

Despite the injuries, Southeast controlled much of the game, leading 49-39 at halftime and 53-39 early in the second half.

But Harding gradually sliced into the deficit and, after several lead changes, went ahead for good at 80-79 on Kee's 3-pointer with two minutes left. Smith's two free throws with 10 seconds remaining provided the final cushion.

"We've just got to get a lot better," Garner said.