EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.— The Drury Panthers came from seven points down in overtime and got two blocked shots in the closing seconds from Douglas Moore as Drury knocked off top-seeded Lewis 69-67 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference semifinals at the Valabene Center in Edwardsville, Illinois.
 
The win was Drury's 12th in a row and raised their record to 21-10. The Flyers had their 12-game winning streak snapped and the league's regular season champion fell to 24-5.
 
Neither team had more than a five-point lead during regulation, but Lewis scored the first seven points of overtime to claim a 67-60 advantage midway through the extra period.
 
Conley Garrison gave the Panthers a spark, though, as the sophomore from Bolivar drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key and drew a foul with 2:12 remaining. Garrison made his free throw to complete the four-point play that immediately got Drury within a possession of the lead and with 1:33 left, then Allen Billinger's left-wing trey evened the game at 67-67.
 
After teams traded missed shots, Douglas Moore's blocked shot led to a fast-break opportunity as Andrew Ballock outraced the Flyers to the offensive end and his lay-up gave the Panthers a 69-67 edge with 11 seconds left.
 
Moore came through with another block in the closing seconds to preserve the lead and send Drury, seeded fifth in this year's tournament, to their first GLVC championship game appearance since 2015.
 
"It was two teams that were trying to do all the right things and playing their tails off," said Drury head coach Steve Hesser. "They hit us early in overtime, and usually the team that scores first in overtime wins, but they fouled Conley on that three, and that four-point play got us back in it. Then Dougie gives us two big blocks at the end."  
 
Billinger scored 17 of his team-high 22 points in the second half, and his two made free throws with 11 seconds left in regulation tied the game at 60-60 setting up overtime.
 
Garrison added 21 points and was 6 for 9 from three-point range.
 
GLVC Player of the Year Kendale McCullum had a game-high 23 points for Lewis but the senior from Elgin, Illinois did not score in the overtime period. Delaney Blaylock had 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Flyers in the loss.
 
"This was a team that started to put the 'we' before the 'me'…it's been a pleasure to watch them grow," said Hesser of his team's turnaround that has seen them go from a 9-10 record and a 3-5 mark in the GLVC on Jan. 24 to 12 straight wins, and a victory away from securing an automatic berth to the NCAA-II national tournament.
 
Drury will play the winner of Bellarmine and Southern Indiana at 1 pm on Sunday in the GLVC championship game at the Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Illinois.
 
 
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