ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Lewis broke open a close contest early in the second half and went on to a 76-52 victory over cold-shooting Drury in a Great Lakes Valley Conference matchup Thursday night at Carey Arena.

The Flyers improved to 17-6 overall and 9-5 in the league, while the Panthers fell to 16-6 and 10-4 in the GLVC, their lead in the West shrinking to just one game over second-place Truman State.

Lewis shot 75 percent from the field (18 of 24) in the second half to spark the pullaway, which began when the Flyers were clinging to a 36-33 lead four minutes into the half. But Coach Scott Trost's club then went on an 8-2 run to gain some room before breaking it open. It was 50-40 with 9:35 to play, but Lewis surged with a 12-2 push to break it wide open and hand the Panthers just their second loss in 12 games between the squads.

"First of all, like to say congratulations to Coach (Molly) Miller and her girls tonight ... they made shots early, then they got down, and I think they showed a lot of grit and toughness on the road," Drury coach Steve Hesser said, referring to the Lady Panthers' upset of unbeaten and top-ranked Lewis prior to the men's game.

"As far as our game, the team that played the hardest, the team that was the toughest, won tonight. We didn't play very hard, we weren't very tough and the final score was indicative of that. We need to find some answers, because I'm very disappointed.

"We didn't make shots, but we've got to be tougher. One of my sayings is don't define your game by your makes and misses ... define your game by the little things you do for the program. We didn't make shots, and I don't know if that's what affected our effort and toughness level, but boy, we didn't try very hard and weren't very tough."

Lewis scored 50 of its 76 points in the paint, and outscored Drury 19-4 off turnovers. 

Cameron Adams was the only Panther to reach double-figures, finishing with 10 points to go with 11 rebounds. 

Drury made just 18 of 57 shots (32 percent) - with the starting five making just 8 of 32 shots (25 percent) - while Lewis finished at 59 percent (31 of 53). The Panthers had 14 turnovers to just six by the Flyers. Freshman Max Strus led five Lewis players in double-figures with 19 points, adding seven rebounds and six assists.

"They're a very good team," Hesser said. "They put pressure on you, and they really tried tonight."

Drury will look to bounce back in a tough place on Saturday, when the Panthers visit No. 12 Wisconsin-Parkside (21-2, 13-1) in a 3 p.m. tipoff in Kenosha, Wis. The Rangers defeated Missouri S&T 94-70 on Thursday.