SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Drury Panthers snapped a two-game losing skid on Saturday afternoon, shooting their way past the Rockhurst Hawks 91-62 at the O'Reilly Family Event Center to improve to 3-5 overall and even their Great Lakes Valley Conference record to 1-1.
 
Junior Malek Davis hit for a season-high 28 points, including eight three-pointers, seven coming in the first half, with the Panthers as a team finishing 17 of 35 from outside the arc for the game.
 
"Malek got in a good rhythm today, and I think that rhythm started when he found guys early," said Drury assistant coach Chris Carr. "When he got multiple people touching the ball his looks at the basket were much easier."
 
The Panthers grabbed control of the game early in the first half, putting together a 22-4 scoring run that pushed them in front of the Hawks 30-12 in route to a comfortable 50-26 lead at halftime.  Drury, making 11 three-pointers in the decisive opening twenty minutes.
 
"This game has a crazy way of when you do things the right way on the defensive end of the court, then the ball magically finds its way on the offensive end," added Carr.
 
Also key to the win was Drury's dominance on the boards, as they out-rebounded Rockhurst 50-24, led by senior Obi Okafor's career-best 11.
 
The Panthers placed five players in double figures, with junior Clay Gayman dropping in 16.  Okafor finished with 14 points,  giving him a double-double for the game.  Senior Victor Nwagbarachoa and junior Dillon Carlson added 12 points each to the winning effort.
 
The Hawks (2-7, 0-2) were paced by 17 points from Jake Auer.
 
Drury head coach Chris Foster was not on the Panthers sideline on Saturday as he deals with a health issue.
 
The Panthers are back in action Friday, Dec. 10th when they host the University of Health Sciences Pharmacy-St. Louis at 7 pm at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
#MoreThanChampions