SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Looking to end a brief two-game losing streak, the Drury Panthers found the answer on Thursday night when they turned back the William Jewell Cardinals 94-72 at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
After struggling to find scoring in their previous two outings, the Panthers shared the ball and the points, placing five players in double figures, and held off a second-half challenge by the Cardinals to improve to 4-3 overall and in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
 
Sophomore Jason Montgomery, for the third consecutive game, paced the Panthers in scoring, finishing with a game-high 20, with 18 coming in the first half.
 
"He has the ability to put the ball in the basket and I'm really proud of how he's come along," said Drury head coach Steve Hesser.  "There's still more he needs to do, but he is giving us another scoring threat, which you really need to have."
 
After leading 50-39 at halftime, the Panthers saw the Cardinals battled back to trail by a singled point at 61-60 with 13:21 remaining, but Drury bounced back, went on a 23-7 run over the next six minutes to pull ahead 84-67 and were never pressed again in taking the win.
 
"There were times tonight where we did things the way we want to do them energy-wise," added Hesser.  "We had some lulls in the second half, but I was happy that when things went a little haywire and the lead went away, they stood up and got back on track."
 
Senior Conley Garrison, who's scoring output was held in check in the past two outings, found his form and dropped in 17 points, while sophomore Malek Davis added 16, freshman Riley Naeger had a season-high 13 and freshman Myles Samuels chipped in 10 for his best effort of the season as well.
 
Drury forced 28 William Jewell turnovers and held the the Cardinals to 43 percent shooting in the second half.
 
Jackson Golightly topped the scoring for the Cardinals (1-7, 1-7 GLVC), finishing with 19 as William Jewell fell for the seventh consecutive time.
 
The Panthers continue their homestand on Saturday, Jan. 16th, when they host Rockhurst in a 2 pm contest at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
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