Coming off one of the most dramatic wins in the program's history - and second of that nature in two weeks - the Drury Panthers will get back to business on Thursday when they play host to Illinois Springfield in a Great Lakes Valley Conference matchup (8 p.m.) at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.

Coach Steve Hesser's Panthers defeated Quincy 90-88 in overtime on Saturday at The O', rallying from a 20-point deficit in the second half to ultimately win the game on Kameron Bundy's 40-footer at the buzzer in OT. That came one week after DU had charged back from a 22-point deficit to win in OT at Missouri-St. Louis.

The result leaves the Panthers at 14-5 overall and tied with Truman State for the GLVC West lead at 8-3 entering Thursday's  Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Night at The O'. All proceeds and donations from the sale of Andy's Frozen Custard cups in the arena that night will benefit the American Heart Association for CHD research and awareness.

The Panthers will play host to McKendree (3:15 p.m.) on Saturday's Youth Sports Day, sponsored by The Fieldhouse and The Courts. All area youth who wear a sports jersey or t-shirt from their team, of any sport, get in for free and their parents will pay just $1 admission. The afternoon will also feature post-game autograph sessions with the Lady Panthers and Panthers, "Knockout" games by age and gender for prizes after the DU men's game, and halftime youth basketball games featuring "showcase" teams in grades 2-5 from both The Courts and The Fieldhouse in Springfield. (For tickets, call 417-873-6389).

Illinois Springfield will enter The O' with records of 8-11 and 2-9. The Prairie Stars have lost three straight, including home setbacks last weekend to Bellarmine (80-60) and Southern Indiana (67-54).

First-year coach Bill Walker's Prairie Stars are led by the 14.3 points per game of Jamall Millison, a 6-2 junior. Mark Weems, a 6-2 sophomore, adds 10.4 points per game and Dylan Sparkman, a 6-10 senior, contributes 10.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per contest.

Cameron Adams, who had 25 points in Saturday's win over Quincy, averages 17.5 points and 5.3 rebounds and Bundy adds 17.3 points to pace the Panthers, while Mike Nwelue contributes 10.3 points and 4.9 rebounds. 

Drury leads the all-time series with the Prairie Stars 8-1, including a 66-59 triumph in Springfield, Ill., and a 72-64 triumph in the GLVC Championship post-season tourney quarterfinals in Evansville, Ind., last season.

Thursday's game can be heard on JOCK 98.7 FM (streamed at www.jock987.com), and can be viewed in a free, live webcast at www.drurypanthers.com/watch.

GAME NOTES

*Adams now has scored an even 1,400 points, ranking him 19th on the all-time DU scoring list. He needs 12 points to surpass Jasen Fronabarger (1,411 points from 1995-99) for 18th place on the charts.

*Bundy has scored 1,026 points, placing him 40th on the DU charts. He needs nine points to pass Charlie Crosby (1,034 from 1952-56) for 39th, 15 to move past Ralph Taylor (1,040 from 1969-73) for 38th and 27 to surpass current Drury assistant coach Brandon Kimbrough (1,052 from 2004-07) for 37th on the all-time scoring list.

*Drury is 15-1 in February over the past two seasons and 62-15 in Hesser's 10 seasons at Drury in the month.

*The Panthers have won 33 of their last 35 games at The O'.