SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Despite freshman KeShaun Thomas's second consecutive double-double and a strong performance by its offense, Drury men's basketball dropped its first contest of the 2025-26 season in a 94-83 setback against Concordia-St. Paul on the opening night of the DoubleTree by Hilton Thanksgiving Classic at O'Reilly Family Event Center.
In a battle of unbeaten teams, the Golden Bears used a 28-12 scoring run over a 10-minute stretch of the second half to take command of a seesaw battle that featured a total of 12 ties and 14 lead changes.
Thomas, who registered a 16-point, 10-rebound effort for his first collegiate double-double in Saturday's win over Ozark Christian, powered the Panthers' attack against CSP with a career-high 27-point performance in which he once again pulled down a game-high 10 boards.
Drury (4-1) shot .455 (30-of-66) from the field, but struggled down the stretch as the Golden Bears limited the Panthers to 3-of-11 (.273) shooting while forcing six turnovers during the game's critical second-half run.
Owen Carlson scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half for the Golden Bears, combining with Reid Patterson to total 46 points off the Concordia-St. Paul bench. Carlson scored 15 points during CSP's key scoring surge, as the Golden Bears' reserves racked up a 63-12 scoring advantage over the DU bench in the contest.
Concordia-St. Paul (4-0) took a 44-42 lead into intermission after a back-and-forth opening half. The visitors jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the opening minutes for their largest advantage of the half, only to see the Panthers respond with a 13-4 outburst to seize the upper hand. Zach Howell, who went 4-of-4 from three-point range in the half, sparked the run with his first triple, then closed it with his third to give DU a 14-12 lead at the 15:08 mark.
The two offenses traded blows over the ensuing five minutes, with Thomas's bucket in the paint giving the Panthers a 20-18 edge, before Marcus Burks answered with a trey to put the Golden Bears back in front.
Thomas converted two more baskets in the paint, including a conventional three-point play, and Avante Nichols threw down an electrifying dunk to cap a 9-0 Drury spurt that gave the Panthers their biggest lead of the night at 29-21 with just over nine minutes left in the half.
But CSP answered, using eight of Patterson's 10 first-half points to wipe out the Drury advantage. Five-straight points from Patterson sparked the run, and Carlson's three-point play closed it, handing the Golden Bears a 34-31 lead.
The visitors would expand their cushion to 41-36 on Sam West's drive to the hoop with 2:53 to play, but the Panthers tallied six of the final nine points of the half, as Thomas recorded four of his 15 first-half points over the final two minutes.
After the break, both offenses maintained their momentum, trading the lead six more times over the first eight minutes of the second half before Ethan Whatley's second-chance bucket put the Panthers on top, 66-64.
That's when Carlson and the Golden Bears put their offense into another gear. Carlson buried a three with 11:43 to play to give CSP the lead -- this time for good -- then connected again from long range just 31 seconds later for a four-point lead.
Howell knocked down his fifth three of the game to momentarily pull Drury to within 70-69, but two free throws and back-to-back buckets by Jaden Wysocki and Ben Kopetzki gave the visitors a seven-point margin. The Panthers sliced the lead to six on two Colin Hardrick free throws with 5:58 to play, but the duo of Carlson and Patterson teamed up to score 15-straight points for the Golden Bears to close out the contest.
Hardrick added 18 points for the Panthers, while Howell finished with 15 on 5-of-7 shooting from three-point range. Nichols chipped in with nine points, seven boards and five steals for DU, and freshman Keion Epps provided a lift, posting career-bests of eight points and seven assists in his first home game as a Panther.
LOOKING AHEAD
Drury concludes play in the DoubleTree by Hilton Thanksgiving Classic with a 7:45 p.m., Wednesday (Nov. 26) contest against Central Missouri.
For all the latest information on Drury men's basketball, visit DruryPanthers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Panthers on X and Instagram.
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