LEBANON, Ill.— McKendree built a double-digit lead early in the second half and held off the Drury Panthers for a 79-64 win on Saturday in Lebanon, Illinois.
 
The Panthers trailed by six at halftime, 37-31, but the Bearcats opened the second half on a 10-2 run and put Drury in a 19-point hole, 60-41, with 12:07 remaining. The Panthers quickly scrapped back to cut the margin to 13, but McKendree held off the charge and closed out the game to win by 15.
 
"I thought they played harder than us, and that's a disappointing thing to say this late in the season," said Drury head coach Chris Foster. "They got the ball in the paint and we didn't get a second defender over there. In some ways, we let our offense dictate our defense and we just didn't have enough pop to us today to slow them down in the second half."
 
Eric Powell led McKendree with a game-high 20 points and added three steals. Bryson Bultman contributed 16 and nine assists.
 
Trey Lewis had a career-high 18 points for Drury, while Riley Naeger put in 15 points and grabbed six rebounds.
 
McKendree owned a 36-25 advantage in rebounds and they shot 54 percent, hitting 31 of 57 shots. The Panthers went 24 for 55 from the field for 44 percent shooting.
 
Drury was without starting forward Adam Moore, who missed his second game with an injured leg.
 
The Panthers are back at home on Thursday when they host Illinois Springfield at 7:45 pm in the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
 
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