ST. LOUIS - Drury rallied from a 13-point hole from the game's opening tip to pick up a 60-51 victory over Missouri-St. Louis in the Great Lakes Valley Conference opener for both teams Thursday night at the Mark Twain Building.

The Panthers improved to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the league in snapping a two-game losing streak. It looked bleak early, as the Tritons (3-3, 0-1) scored the game's first 13 points as Drury struggled to get untracked at both ends of the floor.

But Coach Steve Hesser's Panthers dug in and showed some grit, battling back to grab the lead late in the half before trailing 30-28 at the halftime break.

"We just can't get out of the gate ... we start every game passive," Hesser said. "I challenged them to go out and have a great warmup session, and my assistants said we did, but then we start the game down 13-0 ... but we battled back, and we did it with defense. Both teams were trying to guard.

"We made some plays down the stretch, got some buckets." 

From there, Drury gradually built its lead with some big 3-pointers - Lucciano Gamiz, who tied Bundy for game scoring honors with 16 points, hit 4 of 8 treys for the game - and some defensive stops at the other end to snag a win in the league opener. 

Drury held the Tritons to 35-percent shooting (19 of 55) from the field, including a 6-for-32 effort from 3-point range. The Panthers also outrebounded UMSL 37-34 for the game, led by eight rebounds from St. Louis area native Drew Moore and six each from Bundy and Gamiz. Joshua Palmer added five rebounds.

"I'm proud of Drew Moore," Hesser said. "He had eight rebounds, five points, and he battled. I'm glad to see him have some success, because he needed that."

The Panthers, meanwhile, shot 40 percent from the field (20 of 50), including an 8-for-18 effort from 3-point range. 

Tre Hymer had 15 points and Joseph English added 12 points and seven assists for the Tritons.

Drury continues the St. Louis swing at Maryville on Saturday in a 3 p.m. GLVC start.