RENSSELAER, Ind. - No. 19 Drury used a 17-3 burst out of the gate to build an early advantage and went on to defeat Saint Joseph's 82-58 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play Sunday afternoon at the Scharf Fieldhouse.

Drury improved to 8-3 overall and 2-1 in the GLVC, while the Pumas fell to 3-10 and 0-3.

Mike Nwelue hit 9 of 12 shots and scored a Drury career-high 21 points, added a game-high nine rebounds and blocked a career-best four shots to pace the Panthers, who received 16 points each from Cameron Adams and Kameron Bundy. Bundy also had seven assists in his 32 minutes of play as Drury posted a season-high 22 assists as a team.

Davone Daniels had 16 points to lead the Pumas. Cameron Vines, the GLVC's leading scorer on the season coming in at 22.3 points per game (and who scored 29 against the Panthers last season), was held to 11 points on 3-of-13 shooting.

Drury shot 59 percent from the field (33 of 56), including an 18-for-26 effort in the second half (69 percent). The Panthers' defense limited SJC to 36 percent shooting (20 of 55).

"I thought we were very collective the first five minutes of the game and I thought we played with great pace ... we moved the ball, got it inside, we scored and did some good things on the defensive end to get a lead," Drury coach Steve Hesser said. "Then we kind of had a little letdown, and (SJC) isn't going to quit. Just because you get off to a 10-0 start, there's a lot of time left on the clock.

"We had some fire coming off our performance Friday night, and I really liked the way we responded at the beginning of the game. I thought we did a nice job on Vines, who had 38 on Friday night here (against Mo S&T). I'm proud of the guys on the bounceback (from Friday's loss at No. 7 Indianapolis)."

Drury led 35-22 at the half. For the game, the Panthers claimed a 39-26 rebounding advantage, led by Nwelue's nine and seven from DaShaun Stark. The 39 boards were a season-high for the Panthers. 

The Panthers return home to face GLVC East powers Southern Indiana (8 p.m. Thursday) and Bellarmine (3:15 p.m. Saturday) at the O'Reilly Family Event Center. As part of "Educator Appreciation Days," all area teachers and administrators - and their families - will be admitted for free with a valid school ID presented at the ticket window. For more information, call (417) 873-6389 or visit www.drurytickets.com to purchase seats.