SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Drury men's basketball opens play in the 2026 Great Lakes Valley Conference Men's Basketball Championship Thursday (March 5) with a 5:30 p.m., quarterfinal matchup against No. 1 seed Rockhurst at the Mark Twain Building in St. Louis.
Drury (15-13, 10-10 GLVC) secured its first GLVC Tourney berth since 2022 with a 91-83 road win over Missouri S&T (Feb. 28), capping a string of three consecutive conference wins to close the regular season.
Ranked No. 18 in this week's NABC Division II poll, Rockhurst (23-5, 17-3 GLVC) brings an 11-game win streak into the postseason. The Hawks claimed their first-ever GLVC regular-season title under 2025-26 GLVC Coach of the Year Kyle Blackbourn.
For the fifth year in a row, all GLVC Championship action will be streamed live for $15 per game or $40 for the full tournament on GLVCSN.com, the GLVCSN iOS and Android mobile apps, and GLVCSN OTT apps on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Android TV. More broadcast details will be shared the week of the event.
All spectators attending in person will be required to pre-purchase tickets online at GLVCsports.com/tickets. No cash will be accepted on site.
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
- The Panthers hold a 77-50 all-time series edge against Rockhurst.
- Drury holds a 29-11 advantage in the series since joining the GLVC in 2005-06.
- DU claimed a 104-98 win in its first meeting of the season with Rockhurst on Jan. 2, but dropped an 88-75 contest to the Hawks on Feb. 14 in Kansas City.
- Drury is 4-5 against Rockhurst under head coach Chris Foster, who is 12-8 overall vs. the Hawks in his 12 years as a collegiate head coach.
- DU is making its 17th appearance in the GLVC Championship with an overall mark of 21-13 in the event; the Panthers have won three GLVC Tournament titles (2008, 2013 and 2015).
ABOUT ROCKHURST
- the Hawks enter the postseason with the GLVC's top scoring offense (87.0 ppg) and a 23-5 overall mark.
- Led by second-year head coach Kyle Blackbourn, the Hawks won 11-straight contests to wrap up their first GLVC regular-season championship.
- Rockhurst is the No. 3 rebounding (37.0 rpg) club in the GLVC, while their 549 free throws on the season leads the circuit by 165 over Lincoln's 384, which is the No. 2 total in the league; the Hawks' .799 team free-throw shooting percentage ranks as the No. 3 figure in the nation.
- The Hawks' offense is fueled by the 1-2 punch of Drenin Dinkins (22.5) and GLVC Player of the Year Jaylen Wesley (21.4), who rank first and second in the conference in scoring, respectively.
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 81.7 ppg clip, while allowing an average of 77.9 points per outing.
- Drury is paced by an offense that features three double-figure scorers, led by junior guard Zach Howell (17.5 ppg) and sophomore guard Colin Hardrick (15.3).
- 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 25 starts and averaging 9.8 points per outing to date.
- Several talented newcomers have contributed significantly in their first 14 weeks as Panthers: freshman KeShaun Thomas (15.0 ppg) has been a dominant force in the paint, scoring in double-figures in 24 of the Panthers' 28 games, including seven double-doubles; fellow rookie Keion Epps is averaging 6.0 points, in addition to his 4.3 assist-per-game average, which ranks fourth in the GLVC; redshirt freshman Isaiah Otyaluk has provided a lift in his first season at Drury as well, including four 20-point performances.
LAST TIME OUT
- Drury closed the regular season Saturday afternoon in Rolla with a 91-83 win over Missouri S&T behind a career-high 22 points from Luke Stubbs.
- The Panthers seized the lead for good with just over 13 minutes to play in the opening half, building a 25-20 advantage on an Isaiah Otyaluk three-pointer.
- Drury took its largest lead into intermission at 44-35, then stretched it to double-digits early in the second stanza; the Miners would cut the lead to four points late, but DU closed out the win thanks in large part to KeShaun Thomas and Colin Hardrick, who added double-doubles to lead the Panthers; Thomas registered 15 points and 17 rebounds and Hardrick posted 18 points and 12 boards.
TOURNEY TIME
- The 2026 GLVC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament presented by LHM, will be held at the Mark Twain Building on the UMSL campus in St. Louis, Mo., March 5-8.
- The event features No. 1 seed Rockhurst and No. 8 seed Drury squaring off on Thursday, March 5 at 5:30 p.m. (CT) to open the action, followed by the No. 2 William Jewell and No. 7 Upper Iowa at 7:45 p.m.; the third and fourth quarterfinals take place Friday, March 6 at the same times, first between the four-seed Indianapolis and five-seed Missouri S&T, before the third-seed Illinois Springfield and sixth-seed McKendree face off in the nightcap.
- Semifinals will take place at 5:30 and 7:45 p.m. on Saturday, March 7, with the four quarterfinal winners battling it out for a spot in the Championship match on Sunday, March 8 at 3:30 p.m.
- The GLVC Champion will earn the Conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional.
- Drury is making its 17th appearance in the GLVC Men's Basketball Championship since the Panthers joined the conference for the 2005-06 season.
- The Panthers have gone 21-13 overall, with three tournament titles to their credit: 2008, 2013 and 2015.
- DU is 1-0 vs. Rockhurst in the GLVC Tournament after claiming a 97-76 win in the quarterfinal round of the 2017 Championship in Springfield.
- Drury last appeared in the conference tournament in 2022, dropping a 96-63 setback to UMSL in its only previous trip to the Championship under head coach Chris Foster.
KESHAUN CLIMBING
- Freshman KeShaun Thomas is putting together one of the top all-around rookie seasons in Drury history, with seven 20+ point performances and seven double-doubles to his credit through 28 games.
- Thomas currently ranks fifth on Drury's all-time freshman scoring list with 419 points, just 11 points behind Gail Frederick in the No. 4 position on the chart.
- The Quincy, Ill., product also rates fifth on DU's rookie rebounding chart with 205 -- after passing Roland Shultz (189) with his 17-board effort last Saturday at Missouri S&T; he needs three more boards to match Kevin Wells (208) in the No. 4 position.
- Additionally, Thomas has proven to be one of the top freshmen in the GLVC all season, with his 15.0 ppg. average leading all league freshmen, and his .488 field-goal percentage ranking third among all GLVC rookies.
BLOCK PARTY
- Drury freshman Kevin Sargeant has turned in a strong body of work since making his first collegiate start on Feb. 7 against Truman State.
- In the Panthers last six games, Sargeant has averaged 6.3 points and 5.0 rebounds while shooting .600 (18-for-30) from the floor.
- He has also been a force on the defensive end of the floor, recording 12 blocked shots and 15 steals in those seven games.
- In DU's Feb. 5 win over Quincy, he swatted a Panther season-high five shots against the Hawks.
- Sargeant's five blocked shots not only marked a 2025-26 season best by a Panther, but also the most by a DU player since Victor Nwagbarachoa rejected six shots on Jan. 29, 2022.
- Sargeant also recorded a pair of blocks in the Panthers' victory over Truman.
- Sargeant's 1.2 blocks per game rank fifth among all GLVC players.
- As a team, the Panthers have recorded a GLVC-best 99 blocks on the season for an average of 3.54 per game, which also leads the GLVC.
GLVC HONOR ROLL
- Three Panthers were selected for post-season All-GLVC honors, the league office announced Wednesday.
- Zach Howell was voted a First-Team All-GLVC performer, while sophomore guard Colin Hardrick was a Second-Team and All-Defensive Team honoree, and KeShaun Thomas was named to the conference's All-Freshman Team.
- Additionally, Luke Stubbs was selected for the league's Sportsmanship Team.
- Howell's first-team selection is Drury's first for the league's top team since Conley Garrison's citation in 2020-21 and the Panthers' 14th overall since joining the conference in 2005.
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