SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— The Drury Panthers captured their third consecutive win of the season Saturday afternoon with an 80-57 victory against visiting William Woods behind a career high scoring effort from sophomore Julius Walker. Walker came off the bench midway through the opening half and poured in 23 of his game high and career high 25 points, to help the Panthers to a 56-34 intermission edge over the Owls. Walker's previous best scoring effort for Drury was 17 points against William Jewell on January 27 of last season.
 
"He can certainly score the basketball and even made two three's today, and it was much needed," said Drury head coach Steve Hesser.  "After the Southwest Baptist game on Tuesday there was obviously some hangover from that game for us, and we needed a lift."
 
The Panthers trailed William Woods 8-2 early, but behind the Walker led effort, they outscored the Owls 26-10 over an eight-minute stretch to take command of the contest.
 
Junior Isaac Johnson added 15 points, and senior John Williams chipped in another 12 for the Panthers, while Shad Kimble paced the scoring for the Owls with 14 points.
 
Drury held a 42-29 edge in rebounding over the Owls, who drop to 2-5 on the season with the loss.
 
"I think we're getting our swagger back and it will be a good test for us with two good teams coming in here to play next week," added Hesser.
 
After opening the season 0-3, the Panthers squared their season mark at 3-3 headed into their next contest, which will be on November 23rd when they host Upper Iowa in a 3:15 p.m. game on the opening day of the DoubleTree/Houlihan's Thanksgiving Classic at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
 
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