SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— The Drury Panthers held off a number of late second half challenges by the Missouri Southern Lions and claimed a 76-70 win on the final night of the DoubleTree Thanksgiving Classic at the O'Reilly Family Event Center on Wednesday evening.
 
After leading the Lions by three points 40-37 at halftime, that margin of three points by the Panthers was on the table a handful of times during the final minutes of the game, but each time Missouri Southern pulled to within three, Drury was able to hold them back and preserved the win moving to 5-1 on the season.
 
Leading 73-70 with just over one minute to play, Drury sophomore Logan Applegate, who posted a double-double on the night with 16 points and 11 rebounds, drained three free throws in the closing seconds to ice the victory.
 
"Logan's had a bit of a slow start, so it's good to see him get it going," said Drury head coach Chris Foster.  "He's done a great job rebounding the ball for us early in the year and it's good to see that kind of growth in his game."
 
The Panthers got 13 points from freshman Juok Riak and a solid off-the-bench showing by sophomore Elijah Whitley, who added 12.
 
The Lions, who fell to 2-3 overall, had only five players score for the game, led by a 19-point effort from Darius Dawson, as their inside game presented problems for the Panthers.
 
"They're a well-coached team with big, physical guys that won't go away," added Foster.  "But I was really proud of how we battled with them and the way we stuck with it."
 
Drury shot 48 percent from the floor and went 11 of 28 from three-point range while holding the Lions to 42 percent shooting and just 4 of 18 from beyond the arc.  The Panthers outrebounded Missouri Southern 37-35.
 
The Panthers return to action on Thursday, November 30th, when they open Great Lakes Valley Conference play in a 7:30 pm game at Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois.
 
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