SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Drury Panthers were red-hot from the field and turned back the Rockhurst Hawks 91-81 on Saturday afternoon at the O'Reilly Family Event Center. Drury improved to 5-3 on the year and in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
 
Sophomore Jason Montgomery and senior Conley Garrison paced an impressive shooting effort, combining to hit on 18 of 26 shots, primarily from three-point range, as the Panthers hit on 61 percent of their shots on the afternoon.
 
Montgomery was good on 7 of 10 three-point attempts and finished with a game-high 28 points, while Garrison drained 5 of 8 from beyond the arc and closed with 26.  For Montgomery, it capped an outstanding week offensively, as he had games of 35, 20, and 28 in the past three contests.
 
The Panthers were 15 of 26 from three-point range, a season-best in makes, and finished with 21 assists on their 28 made shots.
 
"We got outscored in the paint by 16, but we were 15 for 26 from three-point range, and those three's add up more…but you can't count on that kind of shooting on a consistent basis," said Drury head coach Steve Hesser.
 
After leading 48-37 at halftime behind the shooting of Montgomery and Garrison in the opening 20 minutes, the Panthers stretched their margin to 16 points with just under 15 minutes to play, 65-49. 
 
The Hawks (4-6, 4-6 GLVC) battled back and pulled to within five points with just under four minutes to play, but Drury canned a handful of free throws in the final minutes to preserve the win.
 
"Rockhurst played extremely hard and had some size and quickness, and they got to us in the second half, but I was proud that we didn't put our heads down and didn't get a defeated attitude," added Hesser.
 
Seniors Cal Hartley and Obi Okafor chipped in 15 and 14 points respectively to support the work of Montgomery and Garrison. 
 
Rich Byhre and Thomas Faber had 18 points apiece to lead the Rockhurst scoring.
 
The Panthers are back in action on Tuesday, Jan. 21, when they travel to Southwest Baptist University in a 7:30 pm contest with the Bearcats.
 
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