RUSSELLVILLE, Ark.—The Drury Panthers nearly erased a 22-point deficit in the second half but fell short in a 75-72 loss at Arkansas Tech on Thursday in Russellville, Arkansas.
 
The Wonderboys, in their home opener, improved to 1-2, and Drury dropped their first game of the year to go to 3-1.
 
The Panthers trailed at halftime, 45-26, and went behind by 22 early in the second half. Drury then went on a 14-0 run to pull within eight and continued to chip away. The Panthers were within three with eight minutes remaining and had two chances to take the lead in the final two minutes. Trailing 73-72 with 1:11 remaining, the Panthers missed a three-pointer, then had the ball with 12 seconds left and down 73-72. Drury committed a turnover on an errant pass with six seconds left and the Wonderboys hit two free throws to close out the 75-72 win.
 
"I was proud of the effort but we've got to figure out how to start the game like we started the second half," said Drury head coach Chris Foster. "I thought our defense fueled us in the second half. We held them to 30 points (in the second half), we were able to get out in transition, and we were able to get some things going at the basket. But we've got to start the game with that mentality and that's something we've got to learn from."
 
Juok Riak led Drury with 23 points on 8 of 10 shooting from the field. The freshman from Madison, Wisconsin, was also 7 for 8 from the free throw line and he added seven rebounds. Adam Moore added 15 points and seven boards off of the bench.
 
Taelon Peter had 18 points and eight rebounds for Arkansas Tech, while Cassius Brooks contributed 16 points for the Wonderboys.
 
The Panthers are back at home for two games next week in the DoubleTree Thanksgiving Classic. Drury will host Fontbonne on Tuesday at 7:45 pm, then Missouri Southern on Wednesday at 7:45 pm in the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
 
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