SPRINGFIELD, Mo.-- The Drury Panthers were a month late in getting their 2020-21 season underway due to delays attributed to coronavirus issues, but when they finally took the court for the first time this season on Friday night, the Miners from Missouri S&T took advantage of an untested team and claimed a 96-89 decision at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
The Miners, who had not won a contest played on the Drury campus since 1977, held an 18-point lead over the Panthers early in the second half, then were able to hold off a handful of late charges. The Panthers cut the margin to six points several times, but S&T won for the first time this season and are now 1-5 while Drury begins the campaign 0-1.
"The whole game was us getting killed on the glass and them catching and shooting three's," said Drury head coach
Steve Hesser. "We did some good things, we shot it well and only had eleven turnovers, but their guards had fifty points on us…so there you go."
The Miners controlled the scoring in the opening half, as they hit on eight three-point attempts and beat the first-half buzzer with a bank shot off the glass to carry a 48-37 lead into intermission.
Drury's last late push came with 1:30 remaining, when they cut the margin to 92-86, but the Miners hit several late free throws to seal the win.
Senior
Conley Garrison, with 25 points, paced four Panthers in double figures, as junior Victor Nwagabaracho added 15 in his Drury debut, while sophomores
Malek Davis and
Jason Montgomery added 13 points each.
The Miners got stellar performances from a trio of players, Julien Smith dropping 30, while Ryan Parker and Kevin Legardy tossed in 20 apiece.
In addition to the late start to their season, the Panthers were also playing with a short bench, as four key players are nursing injuries and were unavailable.
"First games in a normal year, you usually don't start with conference games, but it is what it is, and we've got to be just appreciative that we finally got to play a game," said Hesser.
The Panthers return to action on Sunday, Dec. 20, when they travel to Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri for a 2 pm GLVC contest against the host Lions.
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