EMPORIA, Kan. – A furious second-half rally by the Panthers was not enough as Emporia State fought off Drury for a 69-62 win at White Auditorium in Emporia, Kansas on Saturday.
 
The loss was Drury's first of the year as they dropped to 2-1 while the Hornets improved to 2-2.
 
Emporia State led 41-25 at halftime but the Panthers stormed back and started the second half on an 18-2 tear. Drury tied the game at 43-43 with 12:17 left after a three-pointer by Isaac Johnson and took a one-point lead a minute later. Emporia State responded with an 11-2 run to go back in front by seven with 5:36 remaining and Drury could not pull back within a possession of the lead after that.
 
"Hats off to Emporia State. They played harder than we did in the first half and deserved to be where they were at halftime," said Drury head coach Steve Hesser. "In the second half, we did a better job. There were some positives but we lost momentum missing two front-ends of one-and-ones and giving up a couple of offensive rebounds late."
 
Isaac Johnson led Drury with 15 points. The sophomore from Springfield-Kickapoo was 4 for 6 from three-point range. Allen Billinger had 13 points off of the bench for the Panthers while Tyler Clanton had 12 points and nine rebounds.
 
Emporia State's Brandon Hall led all scorers with 21 points.
 
Drury returns home to host the Doubletree by Hilton Thanksgiving Classic on Nov. 24-25 in the O'Reilly Family Event Center. The Panthers host Minnesota State-Moorhead on Friday at 3:15 p.m. and they play Lincoln at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday. 
 

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