SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— In a ballgame where shooting from behind the arc was the order of the day, the Peacocks of Upper Iowa stunned the Drury Panthers 83-78 in the opening day of the DoubleTree Thanksgiving Classic at the O'Reilly Family Event Center. The Peacocks were not shy in staying deep, draining 18 of 35 three-point attempts in turning back the host Panthers and ending Drury's early season three-game winning streak.
 
Sophomore Joe Smoldt hit on six long-range shots and paced the victors in scoring, finishing with a team-high 20 points. Chris Olson added 13 as the Peacocks placed three others in double-figures.
 
"They're what we call a spread, ball-screen team," said Steve Hesser, Drury head coach.  "They have a big that sets the screen, then they read the situation and have three others set behind the line. At critical times we were negligent in our play, but give them credit, they stepped up and made it, and we had looks but didn't make them when we needed to."
 
The Panthers (3-4) held a halftime edge at 43-37 over the Peacocks, despite the early long-range shooting fest by the visitors. Upper Iowa hit on 9 of 15 first-half three-point attempts including their first six made shots of the contest.  
 
Drury increased that margin to 14 points, scoring the first eight of the second half, but Upper Iowa went on an 18-4 run to tie the game at 55-all with just under twelve minutes to play.  From there the game was back and forth before the Peacocks posted late points from both the free throw stripe and the three-point line to hold off any late-game hopes the Panthers had.
 
Sophomore Conley Garrison, who hit on six 3-pointers of his own, led Drury with 28 points while senior Allen Billinger added 13.  The Panthers joined in the long-range shooting binge, launching 33 attempts and hitting 14. Upper Iowa (2-2) also held the rebounding edge, out-boarding Drury 41-37.
 
The Peacocks ended the afternoon making just nine field goals inside the arc, as the two teams combined for a total of 121 shot attempts in the fast-paced affair.
 
Drury returns to action on Saturday, when they conclude their portion of the DoubleTree Thanksgiving Classic with a scheduled 3:15 p.m. start against Newman at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
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