SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— The Drury Panthers used a balanced offensive attack Thursday night and turned back the William Jewell Cardinals 85-68 at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
With junior Conley Garrison leading the way, the Panthers had four players in double figures. Garrison finished with a team-high 17 points, he also paced the Panthers in rebounding, just missing a double-double night as he hauled in nine boards. He also had six assists, and a pair of steals as the Panthers improved to 19-8 overall and 12-7 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
 
"As we've said before, Conley does a lot of things for us," said Drury head coach Steve Hesser.  "He's our best perimeter defender, he may be our leading rebounder on the year, and then he shoots a very efficient percentage tonight."
 
After leading just 26-24 midway through the first half, the Panthers put together an 18-4 run to carry a 44-28 lead into halftime. Junior Obi Okafor sparked the first half explosion, as he powered his way to a season-high 13 first points in the half, including his first made three-point shot of the season.
 
"I thought we did a good job of what we call multiple actions, and in doing that, Obi got free at the basket on screens and ball screening action," added Hesser.
 
Senior Lane Duncan added 14 points to the final total, while junior Cal Hartley matched Okafor's 13-point effort.
 
The Cardinals (10-17, 5-14) were led in scoring by Nick Bradley, who finished with 16 points.
 
Drury was 37 of 68 shooting for 54 percent and had 24 assists on their made shots. The Panthers held the Cardinals to just 41 percent shooting on 24 of 58 attempts. They held a slim 34-33 edge in rebounding.
 
The Panthers will conclude their regular season schedule on Saturday, February 29th, when they host Rockhurst in a 3 pm contest on Homecoming and Senior Day at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
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