Hardrick
Hudson Harkness, Drury Sports Communications
85
Winner Drury Drury 17-13,10-10 GLVC
83
UIndy UINDY 17-13,14-6 GLVC
Winner
Drury Drury
17-13,10-10 GLVC
85
Final
83
UIndy UINDY
17-13,14-6 GLVC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Drury Drury 48 37 85
UIndy UINDY 39 44 83

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Eric Doennig, Associate AD - Media Relations

Panthers Advance to GLVC Title Game With Clutch Effort Against UIndy

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Colin Hardrick's jumper with 1.0 second left in regulation lifted Drury men's basketball to an 85-83 victory over Indianapolis in the semifinal round of the GLVC Men's Basketball Championship Saturday evening at the Mark Twain Building.

With its second upset victory in as many tournament games, the eighth-seeded Panthers move on to Sunday's title game against No. 2 William Jewell, which knocked off third-seeded McKendree in the second semifinal matchup of the night.

To get there, the Panthers (17-13, 10-10 GLVC) would have to withstand a late comeback that saw the No. 4 Greyhounds (17-13, 14-6 GLVC) erase a nine-point lead in the final three minutes. They would do just that, thanks in large part to a fitting finish to a memorable night by Hardrick. With the score knotted at 83-83 after Tyler Parrish's three-pointer with 27 seconds left in regulation drew the Greyhounds even, Hardrick drove the right side of the lane and lofted a contested one-handed shot that banked home to put the Panthers in front to stay. The Greyhounds desperation heave was intercepted by the Drury defense to complete the victory.

Hardrick's last-second heroics capped a night full of superhuman efforts by the Panthers, especially from Hardrick and fellow Drury standout Zach Howell, who combined for 48 points and each played all 40 minutes to help DU knock off the fourth-seeded Greyhounds.

Howell, who knocked down 5-of-7 first-half three-point attempts en route to a 17-point half, spearheaded a red-hot start by the Panthers, who shot .588 (17-of-29) from the floor, including 9-of-15 (.600) from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes. Drury led by five early, before the Greyhounds used a 10-2 run to take a 21-18 lead.

The Panthers responded with three consecutive treys by Howell, taking a 28-24 lead on the junior's four-point play with 9:05 leff on the clock. With that shot the Springfield native surpassed the 1,000-point plateau for his colleigate career.

They weren't done. Two more triples from Keion Epps and Howell sparked a 10-0 spurt that included baskets from KeShaun Thomas and Hardrick as well, stretching the DU lead to 12 points with just over six minutes to go in the period.

Indianapolis rode a big first-half effort by Parrish to climb back to within five points, before Howell's fifth and final trey of the half (and contest), followed by three free throws from Epps and Thomas, sent the Panthers to the break with a 48-39 advantage.

The Greyhounds heated up in the early stages of the second half, putting together a 15-6 scoring run that brought them to within two points with 13:22 to play. Shaun Arnold scored five of his 15 second-half points during the run, while three-pointers from Parrish and Nathan Dudukovich helped trim the Panther lead to 59-57.

Minutes later, Noah Kon's bucket made it a 63-62 game. The Panthers maintained the upper hand, using an 11-4 run to gain some breathing room and an 82-73 lead with just over three minutes left in regulation. 

But Indianapolis had one final push, keyed by a pair of Arnold baskets and a Dudukovich three. The Greyhounds wiped out the entire DU lead in two minutes and 54 seconds, pulling even on Parrish's long-range jumper from the left wing with 27 seconds to go.

Holding possession for one final shot, the Panthers used a pair of timeouts in setting up the final sequence, with Hardrick ultimately providing the difference-maker and sending Drury to its first GLVC Championship final in men's basketball since 2021.

Howell led all scorers with 25 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while Hardrick added 23 and a team-leading four assists to power the DU offense. Thomas turned in his eighth double-double of the season with his 10-point, 10-rebound performance, and Luke Stubbs recorded 12 points.

Drury outscored UIndy in the paint by a 36-30 margin and shot .537 (29-of-54) for the contest, despite going 0-for-6 from three-point range in the second half.

Parrish led the Greyhounds with 24 points, while Arnold added 21 points and nine rebounds.
 
UP NEXT
Drury advances to the title game of the GLVC Championship, where it will face off against William Jewell, with tip-off scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
 
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