Truman State shot 63 percent from the field in the second half to roar back from a seven-point halftime deficit and defeat Drury 82-72 in a matchup of Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division leaders Saturday afternoon at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
The Bulldogs outscored the Panthers (12-7, 7-4) by 17 points (54-37) in the second half to charge back from a 35-28 halftime deficit.
Drury led 60-59 after two Kameron Bundy free throws with 6:47 to play, but the Bulldogs (16-5, 8-3) scored the next eight points to go up 67-60 and never looked back from there. Truman made 12 of its 19 shots after halftime, including 8 of 13 from 3-point range; in the first half, the Bulldogs shot 35 percent (10 of 29) from the field. The hot finish allowed TSU to shoot 46 percent (22 of 48) for the game.
Drury made 49 percent for the game (25 of 51), including a 10-for-22 showing at the 3-point line, but once again couldn't come up with the big defensive stops late in falling on a GLVC Saturday for the third time in the last four weeks.
"I heard someone say it was a tale of two halves … but that second half they kind of took us outside and to the woodshed," said Drury coach Steve Hesser, whose Panthers fell out of the West first-place tie they had created with Thursday's win over Quincy.
"If you don't defend, good things are not going to happen. It's disappointing … we appreciate the people who came out today, but it's no secret – (Truman) played a lot harder than we did in the second half and we gave them easy shots, and easy shots for them are an unguarded three. They guarded harder than we guarded, and it made us difficult for us to get some stuff."
Bundy and Tevin Foster had 20 points each to lead the Panthers, while Drew Moore overcame an early eye injury to finish with 12 points.
Truman got 23 points from Cole Myers, 18 points from Kyle Kanaskie (including four 3-pointers) and 15 points from Cory Myers in defeating the Panthers at The O' for the second straight year.
