SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— The Drury Panthers closed out the calendar year and the non-conference portion of their schedule with an 80-56 win over the Spires of St Mary on Saturday afternoon at the O'Reilly Event Center.
 
In their first action since December 19th and following their NCAA-II mandated 'Life in Balance' holiday break, the Panthers used a 19-8 run over the final eight minutes of the first half to pull away from a tie game and lead 34-23 at intermission. 
 
Drury quickly extended their lead to 16 points to open the second half, using strong defense and long-range scoring to improve to 4-8 on the season.
 
"I thought defensively, the guys were active today," said Drury head coach Chris Foster.  "We didn't rebound well in the first half, but then much better in the second.  It was good to get their game legs under them and it was a good first game back from the break."
 
The Panthers forced the Spires into 21 turnovers and hit on 12 of 32 shots from beyond the three-point arc to secure the win. 
 
Graduate student Preston Cook was good on 5 of 7 from long range and finished with 19 points to lead Drury.
 
"He's our highest percentage three-point guy," added Foster.  "It was good to see him today get in and make some plays in the paint and, when he's aggressive, it adds another dimension to our team that we normally don't have."
 
Freshman Logan Applegate finished with 14 points, including 4 of 7 from three-point distance.  Senior Adam Moore closed with a double-double for the Panthers with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
 
St. Mary's, now 5-10 for the season, was paced in scoring by Deshaud St. Martin, who had a team-best 16 points.
 
The Panthers return to action on Thursday, January 5th, when they will host McKendree at 7:45pm in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
 
 
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