Indians look for 2nd win

No venue has been all that kind to Southeast Missouri State University's Indians so far this season, but at least their home court is where they have their lone victory to date.

The 1-6 Indians will be hoping to make it two in a row at the Show Me Center tonight when 3-3 Mississippi Valley State comes to town.

"Games like this, we need to win," said Southeast coach Gary Garner. "They'll test us, but we need to win."

Southeast is coming off an 88-62 loss at St. Louis University Saturday afternoon. In the Indians' most recent home game, they defeated Division II North Alabama 75-68 last Saturday.

MVSU's Delta Devils are coming off an 80-68 home win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff Saturday night.

The Delta Devils have met with some interesting results so far this season. They began the campaign with a 107-67 loss at nationally ranked Alabama and then fell 74-65 at Loyola Marymount.

But MVSU rebounded with an impressive 79-77 home victory over a solid Arkansas State squad and followed that up by beating Division II Delta State 75-70 at home.

Arkansas State gained a resounding measure of revenge over MVSU Monday night by romping 94-49 in Jonesboro, but the Delta Devils were able to bounce back Saturday with the win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

MVSU had a solid team last season, going 18-9 overall and 14-4 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Included among the Delta Devils' victories a year ago was an 83-78 triumph over Southeast in Itta Bena, Miss.

"They had a pretty good team last year," said Garner. "Even though we didn't play well when we went down there, they were pretty talented."

Although the Delta Devils lost eight lettermen and returned just two starters from last season, they are expected to once again be a prime contender in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. One publication, Street & Smith, has them picked to finish second.

The Delta Devils' two returning regulars from a year ago are leading the way this season.

D'Jamal Jackson, a 6-foot-6 senior forward, is averaging 18.7 points per game while shooting 45.7 percent from the field, 37.8 percent from 3-point range and 92.3 percent from the free-throw line. He poured in 25 points against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Ashley Robinson, a 5-8 senior point guard, is averaging 15.2 points and 6.3 assists per game.

"They shoot a lot of 3-pointers and they're athletic," Garner said. "They probably have the same type of team they had last year so they're definitely capable of beating us."

Derek Winans, the Indians' leading scorer on the season at 15.7 points per game, had 18 against St. Louis Saturday. Also in double figures for the Indians was Damarcus Hence with 10.

Other players averaging in double figures for Southeast are Tim Scheer (12.0 ppg) and Demetrius King (10.3 ppg).

Southeast was hampered by 24 turnovers against St. Louis, which helped negate an impressive shooting performance as the Indians hit 51 percent from the field on 26 of 51.

Following tonight's game, the Indians will hit the road again to face highly touted Southern Illinois Saturday afternoon in Carbondale. Southeast will be a huge underdog in that contest, so Garner knows how important beating MVSU is.

"It's a big game for us," he said. "We really need to come away with a victory."