2012-13 NCAA-II NATIONAL CHAMPION DRURY PANTHERSThe 2012-13 basketball season for the Drury Panthers evolved into the most magical in their history as an NCAA-II member, as coach Steve Hesser's squad won its final 23 games and captured its first NCAA national championship with a 74-73 victory over Metro State in the title game in Atlanta, Georgia.
That capped a 31-4 season for the Panthers, who also established a school record by winning their final 23 games - failing to drop a contest after a 72-69 setback at the University of Indianapolis in Great Lakes Valley Conference play on January 10.
Coach Hesser's Panthers returned the majority of a squad that finished 17-11 the season prior, but one that picked up momentum to take into the off-season by winning eight of its final 11 games.
Drury opened the '12-13 season by winning its first seven games, including a convincing 73-44 triumph over rival Southwest Baptist in mid-November in their annual "Highway 13 Catfight" series at the O'Reilly Family Event Center. Their 7-0 start was capped by an 82-78 non-conference victory at a tough Wayne State on Dec. 15, prior to the Panthers continuing that swing to Las Vegas to participate in the Western Washington Shootout.
There, despite leading throughout both contests, Drury dropped back-to-back games to defending national champion Western Washington (72-69) and a solid St. Mary's (Texas) by a 72-62 score for the Panthers' first two setbacks of the season.
Drury returned home and dived back into GLVC play by beating Lewis 84-59 on January 3, but two days later, suffered what would be its only setback in 17 games at The O' when Wisconsin-Parkside fought off a huge Panthers' rally to claim a 90-88 overtime triumph over DU. When the Panthers fell at UIndy five days later - dropping to 2-2 in GLVC play with the three-point loss to the Greyhounds - little did anyone know they would not taste defeat again.
The Panthers scored a 70-48 victory at Saint Joseph's on January 12 to start the streak, and what a roll it was - over its final 14 regular season games, Drury played just one (a hard-fought, 74-70 win at UMSL on January 26) decided by less than 14 points. An 81-60 victory at Missouri S & T on February 28 to close the regular season gave the Panthers a final 16-2 league mark, the best overall record in the GLVC and one that crowned them West Division champions for a fifth time in eight seasons as a league member.
Drury headed to Evansville, Ind., in early March as the top seed in the Deaconess GLVC Championships post-season tourney, where the Panthers' took up the battle cry "It's the West's time," hoping to gain respect for a GLVC West Division viewed by many as the weaker sister to the mighty East once again.
The Panthers corrected that line of thinking with a three-game sweep of East powers, defeating Indianapolis 77-72 in the quarterfinals, Bellarmine 69-62 in the semifinals and Southern Indiana 71-65 in its own backyard in the title game to claim its second GLVC Championship, and first since 2008. Alex Hall put on a phenomenal shooting display all weekend, scoring a tournament-record 79 points, including 34 in the title game, to earn tourney MVP honors and join backcourt mate Brandon Lockhart on the all-tourney team.
The three-game sweep in Evansville also secured a host role for the NCAA-II Midwest Regional for the Panthers, who returned to the friendly confines of The O', where DU defended its home court quite well.
The Panthers opened the regional with an 89-77 first-round win over Findlay, followed by a 76-62 semifinals triumph over Michigan Tech as DU disposed of the two strong foes from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
That set up a regional final showdown/rematch with Bellarmine before a packed house of 2,800-plus at The O', where Drury overcame a slow start by both teams to pull out a 67-61 win over the Knights and earn the Panthers their first-ever trip to the NCAA-II Elite Eight. Lockhart was named the regional's Most Outstanding Player and was fittingly joined by Hall on the all-regional squad.
It was then off to Louisville, Ky., for the national quarterfinals and the new split-format of the Elite Eight for just this one year; in honor of the NCAA's 75th anniversary of its Division I Final Four, the D-II quarterfinals and semifinals would be decided in Louisville, with the two surviving teams moving on to Atlanta a week later to share the weekend, all the hoopla and festivities with the D-I semifinalists and D-III finalists as well.
Drury drew a very athletic South Carolina-Aiken team in the national quarterfinals at historic Freedom Hall in Louisville and emerged with an 84-75 victory, led by 33 points from Hall, setting up a rematch with Western Washington in the national semifinals two days later.
In one of the most entertaining games of the season, the Panthers outscored the Vikings 107-97 - much to the delight of hundreds of DU fans who made the drive to Louisville for the game - to earn the spot opposite Metro State in the national championship game.
Hall tallied 35 points against WWU while Lockhart added 24 points and eight assists as the Panthers built a 50-32 halftime lead against the stunned Vikings, who trailed by 22 points (77-55) with 11:49 to go before mounting a furious comeback that saw them whittle that down to six (85-79) before DU recovered and pulled away for the victory down the stretch, helped by a 30-for-34 effort (88 percent) at the free-throw line as a team for the contest.Â
That amazing victory gave the Panthers a couple of days to catch their breath before heading to the southeast for nearly a week of fun, festivities and - most importantly, a very big basketball game - in Atlanta. Police escorts, lavish ceremonies, autograph sessions, a suite at the NCAA Division I Final Four - all part of the perks associated with making the title game in the first (and undoubtedly, not the last) year of the D-II championship game being a part of the D-I hoopla weekend.
After practices at Emory College and Georgia Tech and one chance to get on the Philips Arena floor the day before the contest, the Panthers were ready to square off with Metro State on a Sunday afternoon contest televised live nationally by CBS. With an estimated 1,500-plus DU faithful in the stands - including five busloads of Drury students, or "Fanthers," who made the 12-hour trip to cheer on the Panthers - the contest didn't exactly start the way the Drury folks had hoped.
A tall, athletic and physical Metro State team rolled to what became a 17-point advantage (39-22) with just under three minutes to go in the first half. Only a late 5-0 flurry by the Panthers, including a 3-pointer by Lockhart, cut that down to a more manageable 12-point deficit (39-27) at the half.
Then came the now-famous Hesser halftime speech where he emphatically tried to convey to his Panthers that this game was still well in reach if only they would go out and "be us" in the second half.
And boy did they.
Hall hit a 3-pointer just 11 seconds into the second half to set the tone, part of a 12-4 run over the first three and a half minutes that pulled the Panthers within four (43-39). By the 13:29 mark, Drury had tied the game at 53 on a 3-pointer by Lonnie Boga, and grabbed its first lead (59-58), since the game's opening minutes, with 9:31 to go on a Hall 3-pointer.Â
But the Roadrunners regained the lead on their next trip down the floor, and maintained a 73-67 advantage after a Nicholas Kay jumper with 3:51 to go.Â
That would be the last time Metro State would score in the contest.
Drury shut down the Roadrunners from there, took the lead on Hall's two free throws with 23 seconds left and then dug in defensively and fought off Metro State's final attempt for a game-winner in the closing seconds to kick off a crazy celebration from the DU faithful in Philips Arena.
Shortly after the post-game ceremonies and press conferences, Hesser was whisked away to receive NABC National Coach of the Year honors at a banquet across the street. The Panthers stuck around an extra day as guests of the NCAA at the D-I national championship game between Michigan and Louisville the next night, taking to the court at the Georgia Dome during a second-half timeout to be recognized as the newly-crowned NCAA-II national champions.
A crowd of hundreds of DU fans awaited their arrival at The O' the following day, as the Panthers put to bed a magical season that saw the end to the playing careers of their three seniors - Hall, Lockhart and Teddy Simniok - come to a fitting, triumphant end.
Hall, named the Most Outstanding Player of the Elite Eight (and joined by Lockhart on the all-tourney team), finished his four-year DU career with 2,200 points (third on the all-time list) and with a sweep of the school's 3-point records, including most in a game (9 vs. Missouri S & T in early December), season (125 as a senior) and career (389). His 711 points as a senior were also the most ever scored by a Panther in a single season.
Lockhart wound up as Drury's No. 22 all-time scorer with 1,255 points, No. 4 in career assists (547) and No. 1 in career steals (267). Lockhart's 102 steals as a senior were also a DU single-season record, and his 215 assists were the fourth most in a season by a Panther.
SELECTED VIDEO RECAPS OF THE 2012-13 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON2012-13 Season Highlight VideoNCAA-II Documentary Video on Atlanta ExperienceChampionship Game Post-Game Press ConferenceNational Championship Game Video RecapHesser National Coach of the Year Acceptance SpeechPanthers Return Home After Title GameDrury Defeats SC-Aiken In Elite EightDrury Defeats Western Washington In National SemisDr
ury Defeats Bellarmine For Regional TitlePanthers Win GLVC ChampionshipPRINT RECAPS OF THE TITLE GAMENCAA.com StorySpringfield News-Leader Game StoryColumn From Springfield News-Leader's Kary BooherDenver Post StoryYahoo! Sports Columnist Dan Wetzel On NCAA's Decision To Have II/III Finals In AtlantaKansas City Star StoryPHOTO GALLERIESDrury's Post-Season Run In Pictures
National Champions Welcomed Home
National Champions Parade
Panthers Win NCAA-II Midwest Regional
Panthers Claim GLVC Championship
