SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Central Missouri turned in a red-hot shooting performance to overcome a fast start by Drury men's basketball, pulling away for an 89-67 victory over the Panthers Wednesday night to close out the DoubleTree by Hilton Thanksgiving Classic at O'Reilly Family Event Center.
The Mules (6-2) buried 11-of-14 second-half three-point attempts and 17-of-26 (.654) overall, led by Jevon Hill's 30-point effort that included a 9-of-11 performance from beyond the arc. UCM outscored the Panthers 46-22 over the first 15 minutes of the second half, as Hill heated up to go 6-of-6 from distance over the same stretch, tallying 21 points to lead UCM's charge.
After the Mules stretched their lead to as many as 26 points, Drury (4-2) never threatened the visitors' lead from that point, only briefly cutting the margin to 19 points on a pair of occasions in the final four minutes.
UCM shot .586 (34-of 58) from the field overall, including a 22-of-33 second-half showing that saw the Mules hit on 18 of their first 25 attempts from the field over their decisive run, including a blistering 8-of-9 from three-point range.
The big second half followed a strong close to the first 20 minutes, in which the Mules battled back from an eight-point deficit, thanks in large part to a 20-9 scoring run that turned a 19-12 Drury lead into a two-point UCM advantage at intermission. Previewing what was to come after intermission, the Mules used the long ball to take command, knocking down 6-of-12 first-half three-point tries, including 4-of-6 during the go-ahead spurt to end the half.
Hill accounted for three of the Mules' triples to pace UCM with nine points in the half. Jake Fritz buried his only attempt from beyond the arc, as well as 2-of-3 free throws after being fouled in the act of a second try to help fuel the Mules key run.
The Mules' run followed a strong start for Drury, which climbed out of an early 7-2 hole by scoring 13 straight points to seize its biggest lead of the half. Avante Nichols sparked the rally by rattling home a three from the right wing, before landing the first of two dunks in the opening half to pull the Panthers even at 7-7. Next, Zach Howell converted a drive to the bucket to put DU on top for the first time, Aladji Gassama scored three straight points and Ethan Whatley drained a trey to give the home club a 15-7 lead.
Freshman Keion Epps led the Panthers with a career-high 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting and six assists, while Whatley notched a career-best as well, finishing with nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from long range. Colin Hardrick tallied 11 points, three assists and two steals to aid the Drury cause.
As a team, Drury finished the night 10-of-27 from three-point territory, just one make off of its season-high of 11 triples last Saturday against Ozark Christian.
LOOKING AHEAD
Drury will open Great Lakes Valley Conference play Monday (Dec. 1) with a 7:30 p.m. road game against SBU in Bolivar.
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