SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— The Drury Panthers went toe-to-toe with the Upper Iowa Peacocks Thursday night at the O'Reilly Family Event Center in Springfield but were not able to contain the top offensive team in the league, falling to the visitors 84-73.
 
The Peacocks, averaging 87 points per game, got a well-balanced scoring attack, with six of seven players that scored, reaching double figures, with the Panthers falling just short in trying to match that performance and dropping to 14-13 for the season and 7-12 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
 
Upper Iowa battled through a tight first half to lead 42-39 at halftime, then were able to push their margin to 10 points midway in the second half, then kept the Panthers at bay to the end.
 
"We didn't take care of the ball well," said Drury head coach Chris Foster.  "We had three turnovers in our first four possessions of the half, which led to an easy three, and when you give a good team those easy opportunities they're really hard to slow down."
 
Junior Brock Wakefield topped the Drury scoring effort, finishing with a career-high 20 points.  Senior Riley Naeger added 16, with sophomore Elijah Whitley posting his best effort in a Panther uniform, closing with 13 points.
 
The Peacocks got a team-best 19 points from Jake Hilmer, the leading scorer in the GLVC, but five points below his season average.
 
The win pushed Upper Iowa to 19-8 overall and to 14-5 in the GLVC, solidifying their second place position in the league standings.
 
The Panthers are back in action, Saturday, March 2nd, when they conclude their season during Senior Day activities, in a 3 pm meeting with Truman State at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
 
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