SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – After a sluggish start to the game for Illinois Springfield helped Drury men's basketball build a 19-point first-half lead, the visiting Prairie Stars heated up to shoot 69-percent from the floor in the second half and come all the way back for an 87-72 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory over the Panthers Thursday evening at O'Reilly Family Event Center.
Alex Stell's 8-of-9 shooting as part of the freshman's 18-point, 14-rebound double-double led a contingent of five Prairie Starts finishing in double figures. Britton Dutton led all scorers with 20 points thanks a 4-of-5 effort from beyond the arc, as the junior guard combined with Jordan Rice for 27 second-half points as part of UIS's 20-of-29 shooting performance over the game's final 20 minutes.
UIS (12-6, 8-2 GLVC) overcame an early 26-7 deficit, engineering a 34-point swing by converting 32 of its final 48 field-goal tries in the 15-point road victory.
Zach Howell paced Drury's offense with 18 points, while Colin Hardrick finished with 16 to go along with team-leading totals of nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks for the Panthers (8-10, 3-7).
Drury wasted little time in seizing control of the contest, as three different Panthers scored in the first four minutes to establish a 7-3 advantage for the home club. Back-to-back three-pointers by Hardrick and Howell extended the lead to double digits. Buckets in the paint by Hardrick and Kevin Sargeant capped the early spurt, giving DU a 17-3 bulge.
The Panther defense was equally as impressive during the early surge, as DU limited the Prairie Stars to a 2-for-15 start from the field. UIS mustered just six points of offense in the game's first 10 minutes, as Drury stretched its lead to as many as 19 points.
DU led 31-14 when UIS began its comeback, which started with a Davis three-pointer with 5:25 left to play in the half. The Prairie Stars added a Rice jumper and pair of Stell baskets to counter a Luke Stubbs trey and cut the margin to 11, before a Tye Banks layup and two more threes from Davis made it a 34-31 game.
Following a Hardrick free throw in the closing seconds of the half, Stell beat the buzzer with a jumper to close the gap to just two points at the break. After their cold shooting start to the game, the Prairie Stars heated up to knock down 12 of their final 19 shots of the period to finish 14-of-34 (.412) for the half.
Illinois Springfield continued is recovery in the early stages of the second half, bolting from the locker room to hit six of its first eight attempts to grab its first lead of the game. Three-point field goals from three different Stars, including Davis's third of the game, gave UIS a 44-41 lead.
Drury bounced back to score six of the next eight points, then pulled even at 50-50 on Hardrick's triple with 14:42 to play. Stubbs pull-up jumper in the lane handed DU a 54-53 lead, before a pair of Howell free throws made it a three-point game with just over 11 minutes left on the clock.
However, UIS caught fire once more, this time fueled by baskets from Banks and Dutton. After KeShaun Thomas scored to give the Panthers a one-point lead with 8:39 to go, Davis sank another three-pointer to kick off what would prove to be a decisive 9-0 run for UIS.
The Prairie Stars extended the margin back to double digits on a Davis layup at the 3:30 mark, and the Panthers would get no closer than six points the rest of the way.
Rice sparked the second-half run with 15 points and six of his seven assists after intermission.
For Drury, Thomas led the way with 10 second-half points, but the Panthers went just 3-of-10 from distance after halftime and were outscored by a 48-36 margin in the paint for the game. Stubbs added 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting, while Thomas tallied 12 for the game.
LOOKING AHEAD
With anticipated inclement weather forcing a change to the Panthers' weekend schedule, Drury will now conclude its home stand Friday (Jan. 23) with a 7:45 p.m., GLVC contest against Indianapolis at O'Reilly.
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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