LIBERTY, Mo.— William Jewell held off a second half surge from Drury for a 78-72 win over the Panthers on Friday night at the Mabee Center in Liberty, Missouri.
 
Drury fell to 6-5 and 1-3 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, while the Cardinals snapped a four-game losing streak and improved to 5-7 and 2-2 in the GLVC.
 
William Jewell led by as much as 24 points in the first half and were up 49-31 at halftime.
 
The Panthers chipped away in the second half and pulled as close as four points of the lead, trailing 62-58 with 6:00 remaining. The Cardinals responded to go back ahead by eight, but a Kanon Gipson three-pointer put Drury within five, 71-66, with 2:20 remaining. After a missed three-point try by William Jewell, the Panthers had a chance to get within a possession of the lead but missed a shot in the lane with 1:40 left, and the Cardinals made free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.
 
"You've got to play well for 40 minutes to win on the road in this league, and we've got to find a way to compete like we did in the second half from the opening tip," said Drury head coach Chris Foster. "When you get down by 15 or more like that, it cuts down on your margin for error and we had some chances down the stretch. But we missed a couple of shots around the basket and had a few loose balls that turned into fouls. When you have a first half like we had, you need all of those to go your way."
 
Kanon Gibson led Drury with a season-high 20 points. The sophomore from Rogersville went 7 for 10 from the field and was 2 for 3 from three-point range. Juok Riak added 19 points and had a career-high nine rebounds.
 
Luke Jordan led William Jewell with 25 points, scoring 21 in the first half. Jordan Jermain added 18 for the Cardinals.
 
 
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