Cameron Adams scored 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting to lead four Panthers in double-figures as Drury blasted Southern Indiana 80-59 Thursday night in a matchup of traditional Great Lakes Valley Conference powers at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.

Mike Nwelue added 16 points, Drake Patterson made five 3-pointers for his 15 points and Kameron Bundy had 13 points to lead the Panthers, who moved to 9-3 overall and 3-1 in the GLVC and pushed their winning streak to 32 games at The O' entering Saturday's showdown with No. 6 Bellarmine (3:15 p.m. start). It will be another "Educator Appreciation Day," where all area teachers and school employees - and their families - will be admitted for free by presenting a valid ID at the ticket office window, with the ticket also good for the Lady Panthers' matchup with Bellarmine tipping off at 1 p.m.

Southern Indiana fell to 9-2 and 2-1.

Coach Steve Hesser's squad trailed by as much as six points in the first half before closing it on a 9-2 run to grab a 35-32 lead over the Screaming Eagles at the break. From there it was all Drury, as the Panthers jumped on USI with a 15-3 run out of the second half gate to build a 15-point advantage (50-35) with 16 minutes left and never look back.

USI would get no closer than 12 the rest of the way in suffering its worst loss to the Panthers in the 18 meetings between the schools since Drury joined the GLVC in 2005-06.

"I thought we battled a bit there in the first half and somehow, someway, got back in front at halftime," Hesser said. "We haven't been starting our second halves very well. I think our guys came out and made a couple of stops, and when shots go down, everyone feels better and looks better. In the second half, we did a good job of jumping up and making them when we were open."

Drury did that well all night. The Panthers shot .596 for the game - a season high - including 71 percent in the second half (17 of 24). Led by Patterson's career-best 5-for-7 effort from 3-point range, the Panthers were 10 of 19 from behind the arc.

The Panthers also outrebounded the taller Screaming Eagles 30-25, led by six boards from Patterson and five each from DaShaun Stark and Adams. 

Drury committed just 10 turnovers in the contest while forcing 11 by USI, which got just eight points (on 4 of 12 shooting) from season leading scorer Gavin Schumann, who was averaging 20 points per contest.

USI made just 10 of 28 shots (36 percent) after halftime and finished at 42 percent (22 of 53) for the contest.

Next for the Panthers is East rival Bellarmine, which beat Missouri S&T 81-62 in Rolla Thursday night to improve to 11-1 overall and 3-0 in the GLVC. Drury had a run of 26 consecutive weeks in the NABC/Division II Top 25 national poll come to a close this week, despite the fact that the Panthers' three losses were to teams with a combined record of 34-1 (No. 3 Tarleton State, No. 5 Indianapolis and Northwest Missouri State).

The Bellarmine contest will give DU an opportunity to gain back some of that national acclaim.

"When you play Southern Indiana and Bellarmine in early January, it gives you an early report card on where you are," Hesser said. "We'll get a big test from Bellarmine on Saturday."