CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Eric Reed's two free throws with one-half second left lifted Southeast Missouri to a come-from-behind 64-62 win over SIUE Thursday at the Show Me Center.

SIUE fell to 3-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference and 5-6 overall. SEMO improved to 5-10 overall and 3-6 in the OVC.

"It was hard because of the way it went down," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. We made some mistakes and you could see that."

SIUE scored the first seven points of the game and never trailed until the final second.

"The first half we jumped out early and aggressive," Barone said. "We got some good looks going to the rim. But then we got stagnant and we were not moving the ball or we were driving in to two people too often."

Sidney Wilson scored 10 of SIUE's first 11 points and finished with a career-high 23 points to lead all scorers. Wilson scored 18 points in the first half and SIUE led 34-27 at halftime. The Cougars extended their lead to as many as 13 in the second half.

A jumper from Cam Williams gave SIUE a 50-39 lead with 11:27 to play when SEMO made a push. The Redhawks scored the next 10 points and trailed 50-49 with 8:20 left.

"We didn't have the pop that we needed to take it from 11 to 13 points or 13 to 15," Barone said. "Those plays were key throughout the game."

Courtney Carter made it a seven-point game (58-51) with 2:50 left but SEMO pulled within one with 1:27 left. Two free throws from Wilson and a dunk by Willams had the Cougars on top 62-57 with just 35 seconds left. Nygal Russell converted on a fast-break layup and then forced a steal to set up a game-tying three-pointer from DQ Nicholas with 16 seconds left.

'The game got away from us in that stretch after we extended it to a five-point game," Barone admitted. We were up five and give up a quick layup and then we give up it up on a press attack."

SEMO again came away with a steal on the ensuing play and Reed was on a break to the basket when a foul was called at the buzzer.

"The last sequence didn't go in our favor at all," Barone said. "They sped us up and we attacked too early. You have to come away with the last shot or overtime in that situation. Normally, those are things that you would go through in a daily practice. We went through it, unfortunately, in a game."

Courtney Carter scored 11 point for the Cougars and Williams added 10. The Cougars shot 47 percent (24-51) for the game and outrebounded SEMO 38-37. SEMO turned 21 SIUE turnovers into 15 points.

Reed finished with nine points for SEMO. Nana Akenten led Southeast with 10 points.

SIUE plays travels to Martin, Tennessee for a Saturday afternoon game with UT Martin.

"We have to bounce back after this one, because we have no choice," Barone said. "With the OVC schedule that has been given to us and what is being asked of our guys mentally and physically is a lot."