Drury Panthers (9-10, 4-7 GLVC) at Lewis Flyers (4-14, 2-8 GLVC)
Opponent	Lewis
Date | Tip	Thursday, Jan. 29 | 7:30 p.m.
Location  | Site	Romeoville, Ill. | Neil Carey Arena (1,100)
Game Links	Drury Game Notes | Listen | Watch | Live Stats
Follow	X: @DruryMBB | IG: @DruryMBB

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Drury men's basketball embarks on a two-game Great Lakes Valley Conference road trip Thursday (Jan. 29), when the Panthers take on Lewis in 7:30 p.m., contest at Neil Carey Arena in Romeoville, Ill.

Drury (9-10, 4-7 GLVC) will be aiming for its second consecutive conference win following a 107-89 home victory over Indianapolis last Friday. Lewis (4-14, 2-8 GLVC) enters Thursday's game on a five-game skid after dropping a 34-point decision at SBU on Saturday.

DU enters the game tied with SBU for 10th place in the GLVC standings, while the Flyers sit in 13th with their 2-8 league mark.

Fans may follow the action through the GLVC Sports Network (subscription required), where games will be streamed live throughout the regular season. New for the 2025-26 academic year, viewing access to live broadcasts from GLVC regular season and postseason contests will be available via monthly subscription ($30) or annual subscription ($140). Single-event access can also be purchased for $15. 

Audio broadcasts for all Drury men's basketball games in 2025-26 will be streamed online through the DU All-Access button via DruryPanthers.com. Fans may access the audio streams by visiting the 2025-26 schedule page for the Panthers and selecting the "Listen" link, or via the DU All Access button located on the home page.

SERIES HISTORY

• Drury brings a 16-8 series advantage over Lewis into Thursday's contest.
• Lewis has claimed the last two meetings in the series, including a 69-67 victory in Springfield last season (Feb. 1, 2025).
• The two clubs have split their last 10 meetings dating back to the 2017-18 season.
• Drury is 3-3 vs. the Flyers in its six previous trips to Neil Carey Arena.
• The Panthers are 2-3 vs. Lewis under Chris Foster, who has gone 6-10 overall against the Flyers over his 12-year career.

ABOUT LEWIS

• The Flyers bring a five-game losing streak into Thursday's contest following an 82-48 setback at SBU last weekend.
• Lewis is averaging 64.1 points per game, while allowing 73.5 points per outing; the Flyers are shooting .426 as a club on the season.
• Lewis is led by Arius Alijosius' 18.7 points per game; the sophomore guard is shooting .497 from the field and .446 from beyond the arc (45-of-101) on the year.
• Collin Albert is the only other Flyer averaging double figures (13.3), but has not appeared in a contest since Dec. 4.
• Among the remaining Lewis regulars, Ryan Hall (9.3 ppg) is the top scorer, while Cale Cosme leads the club in assists (3.2 apg) while rating as the Flyers No. 3 rebounder (3.6 rpg).

ABOUT DRURY

• Under fifth-year head coach Chris Foster, Drury is coming off back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2019-21 after going 14-13 a year ago and 15-13 in 2023-24. 
• As a team, the Panthers are scoring at an 83.1 ppg clip, while allowing an average of 78.5 points per outing.
• Drury is paced by an offense that features three double-figure scorers, led by junior guard Zach Howell (17.3 ppg) and sophomore guard Colin Hardrick (15.7). 
• Howell is DU's leading returning scorer, while Hardrick earned GLVC All-Freshman and All-Defensive team honors last winter after averaging 10.2 points, 6.7 boards and 2.0 steals per outing.
• Junior guard Luke Stubbs has returned from an injury that sidelined him for the majority of the 2024-25 season, making 16 starts and averaging 8.4 points per outing to date.
• Several talented newcomers have contributed significantly in their first eight weeks as Panthers: freshman KeShaun Thomas (15.8 ppg) has been a dominant force in the paint, scoring in double-figures in 16 of the Panthers' 19 games, including four double-doubles; fellow rookie Keion Epps is averaging 6.8 points, in addition to his GLVC-best 5.8 assist-per-game average; redshirt freshman Isaiah Otyaluk has provided a lift in his first season at Drury as well, including four 20-point performances.

LAST TIME OUT

• Behind career-best scoring efforts from Zach Howell and Colin Hardrick that helped spark a red-hot second-half shooting performance, Drury ran away with a 107-89 victory over Indianapolis Friday evening at O'Reilly Family Event Center.
• Howell registered a career-high 35 points on 10-of-19 shooting and combined with Hardrick for 41 second-half points to fuel a Drury offense that torched the nets to the tune of 74-percent (23-of-31) shooting over the final 20 minutes. 
• Hardrick recorded 22 of his 28 points after intermission, finishing a perfect 8-of-8 from the floor and 4-of-4 at the foul line in the second half.
• In all, the duo of Howell and Hardrick combined to convert 20-of-34 field-goal attempts, including 8-of-17 (.471) from beyond the three-point arc and 15-of-17 (.882) at the charity stripe. 
• DU turned a one-point halftime deficit into an 18-point win, marking its biggest GLVC margin of victory since a 30-point win over SBU last February.

PANTHERS IN THE CENTURY CLUB

• Drury topped the century mark for the fourth time this season with its 107-89 win over UIndy on Jan. 23.
• The Panthers' four 100-point totals this season mark their best total since 2017-18, when DU topped the century plateau a total of six times.
• The Panthers achieved the feat in a 108-68 win over Ecclesia on Nov. 19; that performance marked the first time DU reached the 100-point plateau since a 106-point effort vs. University of the Ozarks on Dec. 5, 2023.
• Drury also reached the 100-point mark with its best single-game scoring total ever in a 137-62 win against Central Christian College (Dec. 17), as well as a 104-point performance in its win over Rockhurst (Jan. 2).

PANTHERS IN THE RANKINGS

• The Panthers rank among the GLVC's top clubs in a number of categories entering the weekend, including the No. 3 assist (15.5), turnovers forced (14.2) and blocked shot (3.5) per game averages in the conference.
• Drury also rated among the conference's best teams in offensive rebounds per game (12.3), three-point field goals (8.9) and scoring offense (83.1), ranking third in those categories as well.
• The Panthers lead the GLVC and rank ninth nationally in total home attendance of 10,759 fans over their first 12 home contests this season at O'Reilly Family Event Center.
• Individually, Keion Epps' 5.8 assists per game is the top individual average in the GLVC and eighth nationally, while his team-leading average of 1.7 steals ranks seventh in the league.
• Zach Howell ranks second in the GLVC and ninth nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.456); he also ranks 14th nationally in three-point field goals made (62), while his 1.6 steals per contest average rank 11th in the conference.
• KeShaun Thomas is fourth in the GLVC in both free throws made (89) and field goal percentage (.507).
• Colin Hardrick ranks eighth in the GLVC in total steals (29) and 10th in total rebounds (125).

EPPS EXTRA HELPFUL

• Drury freshman Keion Epps has been the Panthers' top ball distributor all season, but the Springfield product has been particularly helpful over DU's last four outings, totaling 30 assists.
• In the Panthers' 82-68 win at Maryville (Jan. 15), he handed out a career-best 10 assists, marking the first double-digit assist total by a Panther since Conley Garrison recorded 10 assists vs. Pittsburg State on Dec. 22, 2019.
• He followed that effort with nine more helpers at McKendree (Jan. 17), then handed out eight more in last Friday's win over Indianapolis (Jan. 23).
• Epps currently leads the GLVC in assists per game (5.8) and is on pace to rack up 137 helpers during the regular season; that figure would be the top season total by a DU player since Garrison handed out 149 assists in 2019-20.

GRAND LARCENY

• The Panthers have recorded an average of 8.7 steals as per game, which ranks fifth among all GLVC teams.
• Drury ranks 61st nationally in steals per game at the Division II level, paced by freshman Keion Epps' 1.7 average.
• Drury is on pace to post 245 steals during the regular season, which would rank 11th on DU's single-season list.
• The Panthers have converted those 166 steals into an average of 15.8 points per game off of turnovers.

LOOKING AHEAD
Drury concludes the month of January with a 3 p.m., Saturday (Jan. 31) contest against Upper Iowa in Fayette, Iowa.

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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