SPRINGFIELD, Mo.-- After struggling through a difficult five-game road trip that bridged the holidays, the Drury Panthers returned home to the O'Reilly Family Event Center Thursday night and posted a much-needed win over the McKendree Bearcats, 84-70, to snap a losing skid that had encompassed those five dates away from home.
 
The Panthers fashioned an impressive first half of play, shooting a high percentage from the field, long range and at the line, en route to a 45-35 halftime lead over.
 
Then, after extending their lead to as much as 14 points, they held off a strong challenge from the Bearcats, who cut the margin to just two, before Drury regained control and rolled to the win, which improved their record to 7-8 overall and to 2-6 in
Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
 
For the second game in a row, the Panthers were without the services of head coach Chris Foster, who has been sidelined with an illness, and assistant coach Marc Sonnen said he was more than impressed with the way the team rallied in Foster's absence.
 
"I'm really proud of these guys," said Sonnen.  "The message I told them before the game was that we're all here for a reason and none are here without coach Foster. And when you play for somebody like they did tonight, you get a little extra lift. When you go through five losses in a row, it can be tough, especially on student-athletes, but I was really proud of them tonight."
 
Sophomore Zach Howell showed the way offensively for the Panthers, posting his first double-double of the season with 21 points and a career high 12 rebounds.
 
Seniors Riek Riek, Brock Wakefield, and Quenton Shelton posted totals of 13, 11, and 10 to support the scoring. The Panthers finished the night, shooting 53 percent from the field on a 28 of 53 effort.
 
Behind Howell's work, Drury also won the rebounding battle, pulling down 33 boards to 26 for the Bearcats.
 
McKendree got a game-high 24 points from Cha'Vez Woods and dropped to 7-8 overall and 4-4 in GLVC play.
 
The Panthers return to action on Saturday, January 18th, when they will host Maryville in a 3 pm GLVC showdown at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.