SPRINGFIELD, Mo.-- The Drury Panthers made it to their "magic number" again on Thursday night, surpassing the 80-point mark for the tenth time this season, each time resulting in a win, and on this occasion, it was an 81-69 decision over the Rockhurst Hawks at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
And it was a strong opening half of play that, in the end, made the difference.
 
The Panthers roared to a commanding 49-31 lead at halftime after shooting a blistering 66 percent from the field in the opening twenty minutes.  
 
They were then able to withstand an impressive second-half comeback bid from the Hawks, allowing them to pull within nine points, but a solid closeout in the waning minutes proved to be enough, as the Panthers improved to 12-11 overall and to 7-9 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
 
"Certainly wasn't a perfect night for us, but I thought overall we did a good job of playing with discipline and keeping our hands back and making them take a lot of shots over the top," said Drury head coach Chris Foster. 
 
The good shooting continued throughout the game for the Panthers as they finished the night 30 of 49 from the field for 61 percent overall.  And great balanced scoring was a key for them offensively. 
 
Sophomore Juok Riak poured in a team-high 21 points, with 19 coming after intermission.  Junior Logan Applegate and freshman Colin Hardrick had 13 points each for Drury, with senior Quenton Shelton finishing with 10.
 
"I thought we got some backdoor scores and a lot of stuff at the rim," added Foster.  "And it's important for us to always find that balance of scoring both inside and out."
 
The Hawks, who slipped to 15-8 overall and 9-6 in the GLVC were paced in scoring by Jaylen Wesley, who had 18 points.
 
The Panthers conclude their current two-game homestand with a 3pm meeting with William Jewell on Saturday, February 15th at 3 pm at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.