SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – McKendree erased a 17-point Drury lead early in the second half to earn a 100-91 win over the Panthers on Saturday at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
The Bearcats improved to 4-1 and 1-0 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference while Drury dropped to 5-2 and 1-1 in the GLVC.  
 
The Panthers had a 61-44 lead with 17:35 left in the game but the Bearcats stormed back and took their first lead of the half on a Malcolm Mabry lay-up with 7:57 remaining to put McKendree ahead 75-73. 
 
Drury owned a 51-42 lead at halftime after shooting 8 for 11 from three-point range and 19 for 30 overall in the first 20 minutes. The Bearcats countered by shooting 61 percent from the field in the second half to come from behind.
 
"Congratulations to McKendree because they were the tougher team and deserved to win," said Drury head coach Steve Hesser. "They won the field goal percentage battle, the turnover battle, and the rebounding battle."
 
The Panthers shot 52 percent from the field but McKendree connected on 57 percent of their shots going 33 for 58. Drury had 16 turnovers to McKendree's 11 and the Panthers were outrebounded 33-30. 
 
Bearcats center Nolan Gerling led all scorers with 32 points on 14 of 17 shooting from the floor. Justin Blanks added 20 points as five McKendree players were in double-figures.
 
Andrew Ballock led the Panthers with 19 points. 
 
McKendree was 28 for 37 from the free throw line while the Panthers got to the line just nine times hitting six of their foul shots.
 
Drury is on the road Thursday at Quincy for a conference game. Tipoff against the Hawks is at 7:30 p.m. in Quincy, Illinois. 
 

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