ST. CHARLES, Mo.—A shorthanded Drury team that had five players out due to injuries, three of them potential starters, earned a 90-84 win at Lindenwood at Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Missouri, on Sunday.
The Panthers improved to 1-1 and dropped Lindenwood, a team coming off of a road win at 25
th ranked Missouri St. Louis and whose only other loss had been to 12
th ranked Truman State, to 4-2.
Drury trailed 47-45 at halftime but held the Lions to 32 percent shooting in the second half as Lindenwood went 11 for 34 from the field and just 1 for 12 from three-point range in the last 20 minutes. The Panthers outscored the Lions 45-37 in the second half.
Conley Garrison led Drury with 26 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field, and the senior from Bolivar added seven rebounds, six assists and a steal.
Malek Davis added 15 points, and
Victor Nwagbarachoa contributed 14 points and eight boards.
"I'm very, very proud of our guys," said Drury head coach
Steve Hesser. "We only 10 guys, and then you throw in some foul trouble (forward
Jason Montgomery fouled out with 16:59 remaining)…but we just hung in there. Lindenwood is talented, and this was their sixth game, which is a huge advantage. We had a stretch where we were surrendering to fatigue, but we juggled guys in the line-up and fought through it."
The Panthers established a lead early in the second half and never trailed in the final 18:40. However, their biggest lead was just eight, and with 2:55 left, the Lions pulled within two, 78-76. Drury made two of four free-throws on subsequent possessions, and after a missed three-pointer by Lindenwood's Cameron Scales, Davis' jumper with 1:20 remaining put the Panthers ahead 84-78.
Drury held off the Lions down the stretch for the win.
TJ Crockett paced Lindenwood with 28 points, while Brandon Trimble and Anthony Christian each had 14.
The Panthers, who were out-rebounded by 11 in Friday's loss to Missouri S&T, bounced back to out-rebound the Lions 43-38. Drury also shot 54 percent from the field, going 31 for 57. The Panthers made two-thirds of their shots in the second half hitting 14 out of 21, while Lindenwood ended the game shooting 39 percent hitting 28 of their 71 attempts.
Drury was without forwards
Asa Hutchinson and
Brandon Emmert, both of whom started the majority of DU's games last year. In addition, guard
Cal Hartley, the Panthers' second-leading scorer last season, was also out after aggravating a leg injury in Friday's game.
Broc Smith and
AJ White were also missing with injuries.
Drury is idle until Jan. 3, when they return for a home game against Maryville. Tipoff is at 3:15 pm in the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
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