LAS VEGAS - Kameron Bundy scored 24 points, freshman Grant Boswell hit two clutch free throws and Drew Moore came up with a game-saving steal as Drury knocked off No. 7 Tarleton State 68-67 to conclude the Panthers' two-game stint in the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic Saturday afternoon at the South Point Arena.

Boswell grabbed an offensive rebound and made two free throws with 5.3 seconds left to put the Panthers up by one, and Moore grabbed a deflection to stave any final-second heroics for Tarleton (9-2) as Drury avenged a 64-60 loss to the Texans on this same floor a year ago.
 

Bundy scored 20 of his 24 points in the opening half as the Panthers rallied from an early 11-4 deficit to lead the Texans 38-31 at the half. From there, Tarleton chipped away at the DU lead and caught the Panthers just after the midway point of the half, going up by six (60-54) with five minutes to play.

But the Panthers (6-4) - with just nine available players on the trip and battling major foul trouble throughout the second half - dug deep and clawed back into it, catching Tarleton at 62-all when Tevin Foster made a pair of free throws with 2:52 to play. Foster's 3-pointer on the next trip gave the Panthers a 65-62 lead, but he picked his fifth foul seconds later.

A Moore free throw with 1:10 left gave Drury a 66-64 advantage, but the Texans countered with a Michael Hardge 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining to retake a one-point lead (67-66).

That's when the Panthers survived a missed Bundy jumper with Boswell grabbing the offensive board, then cooly sinking the free tosses to give the Panthers the lead for good.

"We hung in there," said Drury coach Steve Hesser, who picked up career collegiate coaching victory No. 250 with the triumph. "Boz gets an offensive rebound and then had the courage to step up and make two big free throws ... but he did that in the state tournament semifinals last year for Strafford (HS). As I've been saying all along, he's not scared of the moment.

"I'm really proud of our guys. This should give them some confidence. Coming out here and playing two teams of this caliber, hopefully it reinforces things we say in practice daily that sometimes they haven't chewed on so well because they don't understand. You can get away with it against some people, but there's a certain way you have to do it to build habits and do it consistently, and I hope this will reinforce those habits."

Foster finished with 13 points, while Drew Moore added 10 points and a team-high 10 rebounds and Joshua Palmer had 10 points and nine boards. The Panthers, beaten on the boards by 13 in a 92-80 loss to unbeaten No. 6 Angelo State on Friday, were outrebounded 36-35 by the much taller Texans on Saturday. 

EJ Reed and Charles Hill had 15 points and Michael Hardge added 12 points for the Texans.

The Panthers also had only 12 turnovers by forcing 15 from Tarleton, an NCAA-II final four team from last season.

"We eliminated some unforced turnovers that we had yesterday that have kind of been a problem for us," Hesser said. "This is a good thing for our guys ... I'm happy for them."

Drury is idle until a January 2nd non-conference matchup with Central Christian (3 p.m.) at the O'Reilly Family Event Center. The Panthers will return to Great Lakes Valley Conference play the following week at Lewis (January 7) and Wisconsin-Parkside (January 9), the latter set for a national TV appearance on the American Sports Network.