SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Sophomore forward KeShaun Thomas kicked off the 2026-27 season with a record-setting performance, eclipsing the Drury men's basketball single-game scoring mark with a 46-point effort in a 92-87 setback to Harding Friday afternoon at O'Reilly Family Event Center.
Thomas topped Steve Grace's 61-year-old Drury scoring record of 45 points, finishing 14-of-21 from the floor while also matching the Panthers' single-game standard for made free throws by knocking down 17-of-21 (.810) attempts from the stripe after drawing 16 fouls in the contest. Grace's scoring record had stood since Feb. 20, 1965, while Thomas also broke the more-recent O'Reilly Family Event Center scoring mark of 42 points, established by Evangel's Cade Coffman on Nov. 27, 2021.
The career performance by Thomas could not lift the Panthers past a formidable Harding (3-2) team that won 24 contests a year ago en route to an NCAA Tournament appearance. The Bisons (3-2) enjoyed a big offensive day of their own, as four players turned in double-digit scoring efforts, while Harding shot 32-of-73 (.438) from the floor and 23-of-28 (.821) from the charity stripe. Marko Rangan led the way with 23 points and 11 boards, while Reggie Webster added 21 points for the visitors, who outscored Drury by a 50-36 margin in the paint.
Harding's defense played a starring role as well, forcing 17 Panther turnovers, which the Bisons converted into a 20-7 scoring advantage in points off turnovers.
Rangan and Thomas both played key roles in the opening half, as Harding built an early five-point advantage, only to see the Panthers respond with a 5-0 spurt to pull even at 21-21. Rangan tallied 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the opening half, which was eclipsed only by Thomas's 24 first-half points. He sparked the DU offense by scoring 14 of the Panthers' first 19 points and fueled the five-point run with a conventional three-point play that made it a two-point game.
Thomas connected from long range as well with a three-pointer at the 5:29 mark to pull the Panthers back to within six, moments after the Bisons had used a 13-4 run to claim a 34-25 cushion.
Drury managed to rally and slice the margin to 43-38 in the closing minute of the first half, before Rangan buried a buzzer-beating triple to send Harding into the break with an eight-point edge.
The Bisons opened the second period quickly, tallying six of of the first eight points of the half to stretch their lead to 12 -- their largest of the contest. Webster accounted for four of those points with a dunk in transition and a pair of makes from the foul line for a 52-40 advantage.
Thomas powered what would turn into a 10-2 Drury run, scoring five points while Caison Cole drained a three and Elijah Edosa converted a bucket in the paint to help pull DU to within four points.
But the Bisons answered once more, this time with Bradley Land tallying six of the next eight Harding points to extend the margin back to double digits. They led by 11 -- 68-57 -- with just over eight minutes to play when the Panthers made another push, keyed by back-to-back three-point plays from Thomas and Edosa. DU cut the Harding lead to five points on three separate occasions before Kevin Sargeant's tip in with 5:39 to play brought the Panthers to within 74-71.
But a second-chance three-pointer by Ornette Gaines doubled the Bisons advantage and proved to be a turning point in the closing minutes. Drury would get as close as four points, but the Bisons converted 7-of-8 free-throw attempts in the final 1:42 -- including a 4-for-4 effort by Ty Suess -- to lock up the victory.
In addition to Thomas' record-setting day, Edosa turned in a strong Drury debut with 15 points and four rebounds, while Sargeant tallied a career-best six blocks to go along with six rebounds.
LOOKING AHEAD
Drury concludes the opening weekend of its 2026-27 season Saturday (Nov. 14) with a 3 p.m. contest against Union (Tenn.) at The O'.
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