Hall Scores 33 Points, Panthers Drop No. 3 Southwest Baptist 99-86 In Season Opener
Drury Sports Information
11/16/2009 11:04:03 PM
DU freshman Alex Hall hit eight 3-pointers and scored 33 points
For the majority of the Drury fans in a crowd of 2,009, there might not be any better way to send out Weiser Gym than the special going-away gift the Panthers gave the ol' airplane hangar and their supporters in the season opener Monday night.
Though Drury unveiled a freshman shooting star in guard Alex Hall - who tied a school record with eight treys and scored 33 points - in perhaps the greatest display of team basketball in their six years under Coach Steve Hesser, the Panthers shocked nationally third-ranked Southwest Baptist 99-86 in a men's college basketball shootout.
Drury amassed 28 assists on its 35 baskets on the evening - a record for the Panthers during the Hesser Era - and committed just 11 turnovers as they consistently worked the ball around for the best shot.
It paid off in a 48-39 lead over the Bearcats at halftime as Drury had its highly-touted visitors on their heels heading into the break, finishing off the half on a 7-0 run.
And when Southwest Baptist (3-1) took the lead at 83-82 with 3:37 left on a 3-pointer by senior All-America center Matt Rogers, the Panthers did their best job of finding the kid with the hot hand.
Hall, in his first official collegiate game, answered with one of his eight treys, at the 3:26 mark to put the Panthers back on top 85-83, and then after SBU tied it again on a Thijin Moses jumper, Hall banged home another at 2:44 for an 88-85 lead the Panthers would never relinquish again.
Hall added two more treys and a pair of free throws the rest of the way to score a stunning 14 points in the final 3:26 as he introduced himself to the Bearcats in a rivalry that now tilts Drury's way by a 32-16 margin as the Panthers began their final season in Weiser. Drury will move out of its home since 1948 and into the plush O'Reilly Family Event Center on campus next season.
The eight treys in a game tied the mark shared by a couple of DU greats - former sharpshooters Matt Miller and Steven Gum - as well as Tim Oetting.
"Alex has got the gift of being able to make baskets," Hesser said. "And that's what he has to do. At first he was hesitant to shoot, because he didn't want to make his teammates mad. They've encouraged him to shoot ... he needs to make baskets for us to be the best basketball team we can be, and I think you saw that tonight."
But Hall - who hit 8 of 11 from 3-point range - wasn't the lone standout for the Panthers.
Junior forward Chris Parks made his debut with 23 points, including 17 points in the opening half, and added five assists. Junior guard Chase Elliott had 15 points in 19 minutes, hitting 5 of 6 shots. And returning sophomore guard Dennon Mitchell had one of his most complete games with 10 points, six rebounds and six assists in his 26 minutes.
And then there's 6-5 junior Andrew Taylor, the Panthers' blue-collar guy, who despite giving up six inches to Rogers, did a solid defensive job on the All-America center and NBA prospect. Rogers finished with 23 points and had eight rebounds, but managed to get just eight shots off against the DU defense led by Taylor inside.
"He's a warrior ... it's all about the team with Andrew, and he does all the dirty work," Hesser says. "He did a great job of trying to push Matt Rogers off the lane line. Andrew doesn't care about anything but getting the W for his team."
The Panthers, despite having no player taller than 6-7 - and only one of those (freshman Cable Hogue) - outrebounded the Bearcats 31-28. Hall and sophomore guard Kyle Vaughan had four steals each to lead Drury, which hit 56 percent from the field (35 of 63) while SBU made 27 of 52 (52 percent).
Mose finished with 21 points and seven rebounds and Tristan Steele had 14 points for the Bearcats, who committed 21 turnovers to just 11 by the Panthers, who not only took care of the basketball, but hit 16 of 26 shots from the field (62 percent) - including 5 of 7 from 3-point range (71 percent) - in the second half to put away the victory against a team with three games under its belt, and with a squad featuring 11 new faces who had never before played an official game together.
"Hats off to my guys," Hesser said. "They've been working hard, and I think they were kind of a little embarrassed after last Thursday (a 66-47 win over D-III Webster in an exhibition game), and I probably contributed to that by giving them too much offensively. We simplified what we were doing offensively after that, and we really made improvement on it Saturday and Sunday in just two days of practice.
"They weren't thinking as much tonight, and I thought we did a very good job."
Hesser was also quick to thank the crowd of 2,009, the largest to watch a Drury men's home game in his tenure.
"One of the officials came over there to me with about five minutes left and said, 'Is this January?' " Hesser said. "Hats off to our fans for giving us such a big lift down the stretch. We hope they'll come back, because I think this team can be fun to watch.
"The bottom line from here is learning how to play and getting better each day."
The Panthers are back home on Thursday, when they entertain Central Christian in a 7 p.m. tip at Weiser.
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