SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Colin Hardrick's go-ahead basket with 5.6 seconds remaining in regulation lifted Drury men's basketball to an 87-85 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory over Quincy Thursday evening at O'Reilly Family Event Center.
With the score tied at 85-85 and the clock winding down, Hardrick drove the right side of the lane and banked home a running one-hander to give the Panthers the lead. Quincy's Camren Kincaid's last-second three-point attempt was off the mark, sealing the Drury victory in a game in which the Panthers shot 54.4-percent from the field and 94.1-percent from the free-throw line.
The game-winning shot by Hardrick followed a big second-half comeback by the Hawks, who rallied from a 60-45 deficit to forge a tie on three separate occasions over the final eight minutes of the game. QU outscored Drury 22-7 over an eight-minute span to draw even at 67-67, then took a two-point lead on an Ethan Bolton bucket with 7:22 to play.
The Panthers (11-11, 6-8 GLVC) answered with a Zach Howell three-pointer to reclaim the lead, before a Herbert Martin III free throw tied it up once again at 70-70. Howell's three-point play gave DU some breathing room, but the Panthers' lead would stretch beyond that until Kevin Sargeant's floater in the paint with 3:01 remaining on the clock opened up a 79-74 DU cushion.
A pair of KeShaun Thomas free throws at the 1:14 mark gave the Panthers a four-point edge, but Tiernan Stynes answered with two makes of his own, and Bolton sank a pair from the stripe as well with 28 seconds to play to even the score at 85-85.
Hardrick, who finished with 15 points, a career-high nine assists and seven rebounds, took control from that point, slipping past a Quincy defender before lofting a 10-footer over another Hawk for the deciding basket.
The Panthers went 14-of-26 (.538) from the field and converted all nine of their free-throw attempts in the second half to withstand Quincy's challenge. Four Panthers finished in double figures, led by Thomas's 20 points, while Howell scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half, despite fouling out with two minutes remaining in the contest. Luke Stubbs added career highs of 17 points and four steals to help the DU cause.
Drury appeared to be in control of the game after rebounding from a sluggish start to outscore the Hawks 23-11 over the final 10:49 of the opening half to turn a two-point deficit into a double-digit halftime lead. Stubbs combined with Thomas for 25 points over the first 20 minutes, as DU shot .548 (17-of-31) from the floor and scored 24 of its 45 points in the paint.
The strong finish by the Panthers followed a slow start that saw the Hawks (8-13, 3-10 GLVC) build an early seven-point lead behind the play of Stynes, who scored eight of QU's first 17 points to help stake the visitors to a 17-10 lead.
Stubbs carried the offensive load in the early stages of the game, knocking down a trio of three-pointers to keep the Panthers within striking distance. His third triple cut the QU lead to four points and kicked off a 9-2 spurt for DU that wiped out the Hawks' lead. Sargeant's free throw at the 12-minute mark handed the Panthers their first lead of the night, before four straight Thomas free throws opened Drury's critical 14-3 run that ultimately made it a 36-27 game with just under six minutes left in the half.
Thomas accounted for eight of DU's points during the run, while Hardrick and Stubbs added buckets in the paint. The DU defense excelled down the stretch as well, holding the Hawks to 1-of-11 shooting during the run.
Drury continued to build momentum in the opening minutes of the second half, as the first of Howell's three second-half triples extended the Panther lead to 48-35. After the Hawks momentarily cut the margin to seven points, DU used a 7-0 run in a span of just 56 seconds to stretch the advantage back to double-digits. Hardrick added a three-pointer 30 seconds later to hand DU a 15-point edge -- the largest of the night for either club.
The Panthers finished the night 31-of-57 from the floor and 16-of-17 from the foul line and outscored the Hawks in the paint by a 40-28 margin.
Stynes led Quincy with 25 points, while Kincaid added 18 and Bolton recorded a double-double of 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Panthers wrap up their two-game home stand Saturday (Feb. 7) with a 3 p.m., GLVC contest against Truman State. Saturday's game has been designate as Drury's annual Homecoming contest, as well as Scarlet and Gray Out Day at The O'.
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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