SPRINGFIELD, Mo.-- The Drury Panthers completed a sweep of their brief two-game homestand on Saturday afternoon with a solid 85-71 win over the Maryville Saints at the O'Reilly Family Event Center to even their season mark to 8-8 and to 3-6 in Great Lakes Valley Conference action. 
 
Saturday's game was the third in a row for Drury without head coach Chris Foster on the bench as he continues to battle an illness.
 
The Panthers made a move on the Saints midway through the first half, pulling in front by a dozen and then holding that margin into halftime.
 
The Saints, however, made several runs in the second half, pulling within seven on two occasions, but with every challenge, Drury had an answer, mostly from long-range shooting, as they hit nine of fifteen three-point attempts over the final twenty minutes, rebuilt a comfortable cushion and rolled home with the win.
 
"I really think, to be honest, our defense was the number one thing in the first half," said Drury assistant coach Marc Sonnen.  "We didn't shoot it that well in the half, but then compare the first half to the second, and we shot 60 percent - that was big. But I'm most proud of the team in that we had 19 assists and just seven turnovers for the game, and that's an area we've struggled with this year."
 
The Panthers got a tremendous team effort offensively in the win, as five players managed double figures, ranging from 11 to 13.
 
Senior Brock Wakefield led the way with a season high 13 points, senior Quenton Shelton had 12, as did sophomores Zach Howell and Juok Riak.  
 
Freshman Colin Hardrick posted his third double-double of the season, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds, with the Panthers winning the rebounding battle 36-25. 
 
"It's a special moment when you have a game like this because everybody felt like they had a reason for why we won," added Sonnen.
 
Maryville got a 15 point effort from Anthony Holden to pace their scoring.  With the loss, the Saints dropped to 7-11 overall and 3-7 in GLVC play.
 
The Panthers will next travel to face Indianapolis in a GLVC meeting on Thursday, January 23rd at 6:30 pm (CST).