Men's Basketball 1/15/2016 2:11:00 PM Scott Puryear, Associate AD For Marketing & Communications

Panthers To Tangle With Saint Joseph's In GLVC Matchup Saturday At The O'

Men's Basketball 1/15/2016 2:11:00 PM Scott Puryear, Associate AD For Marketing & Communications

Panthers To Tangle With Saint Joseph's In GLVC Matchup Saturday At The O'

Joshua Palmer

Saturday's GLVC matchup between Saint Joseph's College and the Drury Panthers at The O', at a glance ...

*THE MATCHUP: Drury (9-5, 4-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference) will play host to Saint Joseph's (8-7, 3-2) in a 3:15 p.m. tipoff Saturday at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.

*PROMOTIONS: It's the annual "Educator Appreciation Day," with all current or retired teachers and administrators from all levels - and their families - admitted for free by presenting a school ID at the O'Reilly Family Event Center main ticket windows.

*RADIO/TV/INTERNET: The games can be heard on JOCK 98.7 FM, and online at www.radiospringfield.com. A free, live webcast is available at www.drurypanthers.com/watch as part of the GLVC Sports Network (GLVCSN). Mediacom Connections 22, with announcers Corey Riggs and former Panthers player/assistant coach Steve Gum, will carry the game live as well as with taped replays.

*ABOUT THE PANTHERS: Drury comes into the contest as a winner in four of its last five games, including an impressive 77-65 triumph Thursday night over No. 20 Indianapolis at The O', snapping the Greyhounds' nine-game winning streak. Joshua Palmer had 15 points with his sixth straight double-figures scoring effort to lead four Panthers in double-figures, as Kameron Bundy, Lucciano Gamiz and Tevin Foster each added 14 points. All of Bundy's points came after halftime, as the Panthers rolled to a 39-29 halftime lead while their senior preseason All-America guard was held scoreless. Sophomore forward Drew Moore grabbed 12 rebounds - 11 coming in the first half - for his fourth double-digit rebound effort in his last five games.

*SCOUTING SAINT JOSEPH'S: Coach Tom Church's Pumas are also hot, winners of four straight - including three in a row against GLVC West members UMSL, Maryville and Missouri S&T. The Pumas picked up a 101-94 win Thursday night in Rolla over the Miners, rolling to a 56-43 halftime advantage and finished at 66 percent shooting (36 of 55) for the game to hold off an S&T charge. The Pumas are a very balanced group, with 6-6 senior Nathan Tidwell's 12.1 points per game leading the way. Saint Joseph's ranks third in the GLVC in scoring at 83.6 points per game, but also is last in the league in points allowed at 89.2 per contest.

*THE SERIES: Drury leads the all-time series with Saint Joseph's 10-3, including an 82-58 victory in Rensselaer, Ind., last season. The Panthers have captured seven straight from the Pumas, dating back to a 68-62 DU loss at SJC on January 24, 2008.

*BUNDY CLIMBING THE CHARTS: With 258 points this season, Bundy now has scored 1,477 points in his Drury career, good for 17th on the Panthers' all-time scoring charts after he surpassed Jim McKnight (1,473 from 1953-56) with his 14 points on Thursday. The senior from Nixa needs 30 points to surpass former teammate Cameron Adams (1,506) for 16th place on the list. Bundy has scored in double-figures in 13 of 14 games this season and 18 of his last 19 dating back to last year after being held to nine at Parkside last Saturday. Bundy has reached double-digits in 63 of his 72 games since moving into the starting lineup for the Panthers at the beginning of his sophomore season, including 30 games of scoring 20 or more points. Interestingly, he has yet to have a 30-point game (career high of 28 points against Parkside in the GLVC tourney last season); although, Bundy did score 40 in an exhibition win over Missouri Baptist to begin this season.

*HESSER REACHES 250: Drury head coach Steve Hesser, now in his 12th season at the helm of the Panthers and the winningest coach in the program's history, secured career collegiate coaching victory No. 250 with the Tarleton State triumph in Las Vegas, and now owns a 253-93 mark (.733 win percentage) in his DU and collegiate coaching career. That includes an 89-22 record dating back to the start of the 2012-13 season, when the Panthers went on to finish 31-4 and claim their first NCAA-II national championship. His DU squads have also captured two of the past three GLVC Championships and made three consecutive NCAA-II tourney appearances in that stretch. Hesser's Panthers are 4-1 this season in games decided by five points or less, continuing his outstanding trend in that regard: In 12 seasons, Hesser's Panthers are 64-27 (.701 win percentage) in that scenario, including 27-8 (.774) since the start of the 2012-13 campaign.

*ON DECK FOR THE PANTHERS: Drury will head to the Kansas City area next week to take on Rockhurst on Thursday and William Jewell on Saturday in GLVC play. The Panthers return home the following week for a huge weekend of GLVC West games, playing host to co-leaders Quincy (Thursday, January 28) and Truman (Saturday, January 30).

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Players Mentioned

#24 Cameron Adams: F; 6' 5"; Senior; Forward

#3 Kameron Bundy: G; 6' 2"; Senior; Guard

#20 Lucciano Gamiz: G; 6' 3"; Senior

#41 Drew Moore: F; 6' 7"; Sophomore; Forward

#31 Joshua Palmer: F; 6' 7"; Junior; Forward

#10 Tevin Foster: G; 6' 0"; Sophomore; Guard

Players Mentioned

#24 Cameron Adams
: 6' 5"; Senior; Forward
: F

#3 Kameron Bundy
: 6' 2"; Senior; Guard
: G

#20 Lucciano Gamiz
: 6' 3"; Senior
: G

#41 Drew Moore
: 6' 7"; Sophomore; Forward
: F

#31 Joshua Palmer
: 6' 7"; Junior; Forward
: F

#10 Tevin Foster
: 6' 0"; Sophomore; Guard
: G