SOUTHEAST OPENS MIAA SEASON VERSUS RIVERMEN

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Missouri-St. Louis coach Rich Meckfessel likes his backcourt tandem of Chris Pilz and Leon Kynard against any combination Southeast Missouri State will put on the floor.

But when Meckfessel looks at the inside matchups for tonight's MIAA opener against Southeast, he sees some mismatches that could sink his Rivermen.

"We've got one of the deepest backcourts I've had in a long time," said Meckfessel, whose 6-2 Rivermen host Southeast, 9-2, in a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.

UMSL is 5-0 at the Mark Twain Center this season.

"When I start thinking of who we're going to be putting against the likes of Danny Dohogne or Thomas Thames, I get a little worried," said Meckfessel.

No doubt, Southeast's greatest strength is its inside game.

Dohogne, who averages 18.8 points a game, ranks second in the conference in field goal percentage with a 66.4 efficiency ratio.

Thames, who averages 14.6 points, ranks second in the conference in rebounds with 10.5 boards a game. Devon Lake, who is playing the small forward position, averages 17.7 points a contest.

Forward James Barnes is the only other Indian to average in double digits with 11.2 per contest.

One of UMSL's strength is Pilz, a four-year starter who is second in the conference in scoring with a 21.2 per game average, and Kynard, a juco transfer from the College of the Redwoods in Eureka, Calif.

Kynard, 6-foot-1, averaged 25 points a game last season and is averaging 14.3 for the Rivermen.

"We can bring Steve Roder and Barry Graskewicz off the bench at the guard spots to fill in for Pilz and Kynard," noted Meckfessel.

Graskewicz was the second leading scorer for the Rivermen last season. With the emergence of Kynard, however, he was relegated to bench duty. Graskewicz is still having a productive season, hitting 45 percent of his shots from three-point range.

Indian coach Ron Shumate indicated he will likely open the contest with Mike Lewis on Kynard and Johnnie Coleman on Pilz.

"We must contain Pilz if we hope to win this game," said Shumate. "You can't let a player of his ability go crazy or he'll take control of the game."

Kevin Sneed, a 6-7 senior, is one of the biggest inside players for UMSL. But Sneed will likely lose his starting job to 6-3 forward Clarence Ward, who last played as a freshman at UMSL in 1983-84. Ward trasnferred to the University of Idaho but eventually made his way back to UMSL and is spending his final semester of eligibility with the Rivermen this season.

Ward came off the bench and scored 22 points to lead the Rivermen past Wisconsin Lutheran 99-57 Monday night. "That's the last time he's played since 1985," said Meckfessel. "No question he'll help us this year.

"We kept in contact with Clarence off and on even after he transferred to Idaho," said Meckfessel. Ward only played sparingly for a year at Idaho before transferring to Ohio State to concentrate on academics.

"He's originally from Toledo, Ohio and wanted to get back to the Midwest, so I was more than happy to take him, even if it meant for just one semester," said Meckfessel.

"I knew his five-year eligibility clock would eventually run out, but even getting him for one semester will make a difference."

The Rivermen will also start 6-4 senior center Kevin Hill, who is averaging 11.2 points a game and 10.1 rebounds.

"We're not very big this year, so we're going to have to rely on our quickness and shooting a lot this year," said Meckfessel when asked about starting a 6-4 center.

Scott Crawford, a 6-5 freshman averaging 7.6 points and 6.4 rebounds, is also deemed a starter for the Rivermen. Crawford is a native of St. Louis but lists Los Angeles as his most recent address.

Meckfessel believes his 1990-91 squad is improved over last year's 9-19 squad. "I sure hope we've improved," said Meckfessel. "If we're not I'm going to be out of a job next year."

One of the biggest non-conference wins for UMSL is a nine-point decision over the University of California-Bakersfield at Bakersfield.

UC-Bakersfield reached the Division II championship last season.

"I think we caught them when they weren't really playing very well," said Meckfessel. "Still, it was a big boost for our players' overall confidence," he added.