ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Zach Howell's 33-point, 11-rebound performance propelled Drury men's basketball to a 75-63 Great Lakes Valley Conference road victory over Lewis Thursday evening at Neil Carey Arena.
Howell, who scored a career-best 35 points in Drury's win over Indianapolis last Friday, went 8-of-11 from three-point range and corralled a season-high 11 rebounds for his second career double-double. The junior from Springfield also became the first Panther to record back-to-back 30+ point performances since Alex Hall accomplished the feat during DU's 2013 national title run.
Drury (10-10, 5-7 GLVC) also got a lift from Colin Hardrick, who came within one rebound and two assists of registering a triple-double. The Panthers forced 18 turnovers and limited the Flyers to 33-percent shooting in the first half to open up an early double-digit lead.
Howell shouldered the offensive load in the early stages of the contest, knocking down three consecutive three-pointers to account for the Panthers' first nine points of the game. DU struggled to generate offense in the opening minutes, connecting on just one of their first nine field-goal attempts. But Howell drilled back-to-back triples, and Isaiah Otyaluk sank a long jumper to give the Panthers an 11-5 lead at the 13:48 mark.
Drury extended its lead to seven points on Howell's fourth trey of the half, before the Flyers (4-15, 2-9 GLVC) responded with five-straight points to make it a 17-15 game.
The Panthers, who went just 6-of-23 from the floor to start the night, heated up to knock down six consecutive shots to build a 12-point cushion -- their largest of the half. Hardrick cashed in on a pair of drives to the basket, and Howell hit his fifth three over the same stretch.
DU's defense delivered a strong effort as well, holding the Flyers to 9-of-27 (.333) shooting while forcing 12 turnovers over the first 20 minutes of the contest. The Panthers converted those giveaways into a 14-0 scoring advantage in points off of turnovers.
After taking a 33-23 lead into intermission, the Panthers opened up a 15-point advantage behind a 7-2 spurt to start the second half. Lewis answered with a 14-6 run to close the gap to seven points on a Drew Fisher three-pointer with 10:23 to play.
But once again Drury rode the deft shooting touch of Howell to push the lead back into double digits. He buried his eighth trey of the game to make it a 10-point game, then converted two free throws to give the Panthers a 55-43 advantage with 8:41 to go. The Panthers extended their lead to as many as 17 in the closing minutes, before the Flyers used a 14-6 run to close to within nine.
Hardrick finished with 10 points, nine boards, a game-high four steals and a career-high eight assists. KeShaun Thomas added 10 points and six rebounds, while Luke Stubbs tallied eight points, three assists and two steals.
Drury finished the game 10-of-24 (.417) from three-point range, while holding the Flyers to 7-of-24 (.292) shooting from beyond the arc.
Cale Cosme paced the Lewis offense with 17 points, seven assists and six rebounds, and Ryan Hall matched his team-best point total with 17.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Panthers will travel to Fayette, Iowa to complete their weekend road trip with a 3 p.m. contest against Upper Iowa Saturday (Jan. 31) at Dorman Memorial Gymnasium.
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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