LIBERTY, Mo. – The Drury Panthers nearly climbed out of a 23-point hole in the second half but fell short in an 88-78 loss at William Jewell on Tuesday night in Liberty, Missouri.
 
Drury trailed 67-44 with 12:22 remaining but mounted a comeback, and with 2:54 left, Devon Barshow's three-pointer cut the Cardinals' lead to six, 78-72. The Panthers forced a turnover on the next possession but failed to convert, and William Jewell extended the lead back to nine when Jordan Jermain connected on a three-point basket as the shot clock expired.
 
The Cardinals hit free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
 
"We played a team tonight that exposed some flaws in our knowledge of the game," said head coach Steve Hesser. "They were a team that had been shooting the three well of late, and they were able to continue that tonight."
 
William Jewell, in fact, hit 14 of their 31 three-point attempts in Tuesday's game, and they were 20 for 22 from the foul line. The Panthers shot 44 percent from the field, going 29 for 66, but they hit just 6 of their 19 three-point tries. 
 
Senior forward Eysan Wiley scored 14 points in each half to finish with a game-high 28 while grabbing 11 rebounds.
 
Conley Garrison led Drury with 21 points, six rebounds, and six assists.
 
The loss dropped the Panthers to 5-8 while William Jewell improved to 3-11.
 
Drury is back at home on Thursday when they host Lindenwood for a 7:45 pm game at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
 
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