QUINCY, Ill. – Quincy used a strong start and a shutdown defensive effort to hand Drury men's basketball its fifth-straight setback with a 72-55 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory over the Panthers Saturday afternoon at Pepsi Arena.

The Hawks (4-4, 1-2 GLVC) scored nine of the first 12 points of the contest and extended their first-half lead to as many as 16 points. Camren Kincaid, who turned in a 19-point, 16-rebound performance to lead Quincy, powered the early surge by the Hawks, racking up 11 points and 11 boards in the opening stanza.

A strong defensive effort by Quincy limited the Panthers (4-5, 0-3 GLVC) to just 6-of-29 (.200) shooting in the first half and 30-percent (18-of-60) shooting overall.

Quincy put the first four points of the game on the board via two Ethan Bolton buckets in the paint, before Kincaid registered five straight points for QU, knocking down a trey and converting a layup to give the Hawks a 9-3 advantage three minutes and a half minutes into the contest. 

A Zach Howell triple momentarily cut the deficit to three for DU, but the Hawks would score 15 of the next 19 points to build a 14-point cushion. Kincaid's floater in the paint with just 53 seconds left in the half gave QU its largest lead of the half at 28-12, before baskets by Aladji Gassama and Colin Hardrick trimmed the margin to 12 points at the break.

Quincy picked up where it left off to open the second half, tallying nine of the first 11 points of the period. The QU advantage would grow to 20 on a pair of Max Booher free throws, before the Hawks ultimately opened up a 25-point advantage thanks to a 24-11 run over the first 7:27 of the half.

The Panthers never seriously threatened from that point, closing only to within 16 points in the final minute of play.

Hardrick led Drury with 13 points and four assists, while KeShaun Thomas finished with eight points and a team-high six rebounds.

In addition to Kincaid's double-double, the Hawks received a lift from Tiernan Stynes' 17 points and seven rebounds, as well as double-digit scoring efforts from Booher (13) and Bolton (12). 

LOOKING AHEAD
Following an 11-day break for finals, the Panthers will return to O'Reilly Family Event Center for a 6 p.m., non-conference contest against Central Christian College on Dec. 17.

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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