Thomas
Terry Griffin
48
Drury Drury 17-14,10-10 GLVC
67
Winner William Jewell WJC 22-9,15-5 GLVC
Drury Drury
17-14,10-10 GLVC
48
Final
67
William Jewell WJC
22-9,15-5 GLVC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Drury Drury 24 24 48
William Jewell WJC 33 34 67

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

Panthers' Postseason Run Comes to an End in GLVC Title Game

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Second-seeded William Jewell employed a suffocating defensive effort to hold Drury men's basketball to a season-low point total and claim its second GLVC Men's Basketball Championship in three years with a 67-48 victory over the Panthers Sunday afternoon at the Mark Twain Building.

The Cardinals (22-9) limited the Panthers (17-14) to .281 (16-for-57) shooting for the contest, including just 2-of-15 from beyond the three-point arc, offsetting double-double performances from Colin Hardrick and KeShaun Thomas and ending Drury's five-game win streak one victory shy of a conference title and NCAA Tournament berth.

Kyle Scharbrough led all scorers with 20 points, while Bradley Lightbourne chipped in with 18 to pace the Cardinals' attack. Thomas scored 14 points to go along with 14 rebounds to lead the Panthers, while Hardrick added 12 points and 11 boards for DU. 

William Jewell used a quick start from Isaiah Patterson and a stingy defense to jump out to a first-half lead over the Panthers. Patterson possessed the hot hand in the early stages of the contest, knocking down four of his first five attempts from the field to put 10 of the Cardinals' first 12 points on the board. 

Lightbourne also came up big in the opening minutes, sinking a pair of three-point attempts for an offense that connected six times from distance in the first half.

Drury struggled to find its offensive rhythm, starting the day just 6-of-23 from the floor. But Thomas provided a lift for the Panthers, pouring home 11 points while grabbing seven rebounds in the first half to spark a DU surge. After a Justice Sutton three-pointer with 6:14 left on the clock handed the Cardinals a 24-17 lead, Thomas responded by scoring seven straight points for DU to slice the margin to just four points.

But the Cardinals delivered a key push over the final minute of the half, with Scharbrough hitting a deep three to make it a seven-point game and Patterson drilling a baseline jumper as time expired to send Jewell to the lockerroom with a 33-24 lead.

The offense wasn't any easier to come by after intermission, as both clubs came up empty in the early stages of the period. Neither team connected on a field-goal attempt over the first five minutes until Lightbourne converted a layup as part of a three-point play with 14:53 to play.

Thomas followed with the Panthers' first bucket of the half just 18 seconds later, and DU would knock the Cardinal lead down to seven points on Hardrick's trey at the 8:12 mark.

But that proved to be as close as Drury would get down the stretch, as the Panthers shot just 7-of-29 (.241) from the floor in the second stanza. Jewell, which shot only .357 for the second half and .393 for the game, came up with clutch shot after clutch shot, intertwined with more defense, to continue to stretch its lead. The Cardinals extended the margin to 17 with a 16-6 scoring spurt and never looked back in securing their second GLVC Tournament championship.

The Panthers concluded the 2025-26 season with a 17-14 overall mark, including wins in five of their final six contests. Zach Howell, who finished Sunday with seven points, wrapped up a junior season in which he scored 547 points, good for 26th all-time in a single season at Drury, while Thomas concluded his freshman year ranked fourth on DU's rookie scoring list with 459 points and second in freshman rebounding (235).

Howell and Hardrick were among the five players selected for GLVC All-Tournament Team honors, joining Lightbourne, Patterson and Sutton from the Cardinals.
 
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