SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— The Drury Panthers opened a four-game homestand with an 86-59 Great Lakes Valley Conference win over the Quincy Hawks Thursday night at the O'Reilly Family Event Center improving to 11-10 overall and 5-5 in conference play.
 
The Panthers drained 14 three-point shots on 31 attempts to easily control the tempo and cruise to the win.
 
Sophomore guard Conley Garrison continued his season-long offensive efforts pacing the Panther scoring with a team-high 27 points, scoring both inside and outside (he was 5 of 10 on three-pointers) as Drury methodically pulled away from the Hawks in the second half, leading by as many as 31 before the final margin. Senior Allen Billinger provided much of the second half spark as he scored all 20 points of his points after the break, hitting on 6 of 11 shots from the field to help the Panthers easily outdistance the Hawks.
 
"Allen kind of struggled with a shot or two, but give him credit for hanging in there," said Drury head coach Steve Hesser. "He got one down, and that made him better, and then another went down, and we really need his punch out there."
 
Garrison and Billinger were the only Drury players in double figures, while Jah-Kobe Womack led Quincy (8-13, 2-9) in scoring with a team-high 14. Drury forced 19 turnovers while committing just nine.
 
"I think the most important thing was the 25 assists we had," said Hesser. "That helps with the shooting percentage, and obviously with only nine turnovers, we were getting more possessions. Anytime that's below ten, that's a good thing."
 
The Panthers gained the early momentum outscoring the Hawks 27-10 midway through the first half to take a lead of fifteen at 27-12 before settling on a 37-24 halftime margin.
 
Drury is back in action Saturday in a scheduled 3 pm contest against Truman State at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
 
#allweDUiswin