Kameron Bundy scored 23 points to lead three Panthers in double-figures and Drury pulled away in the second half for a 75-62 victory over Southern Indiana in Great Lakes Valley Conference action Thursday night at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
Tevin Foster added 13 points and Drew Moore had 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds for the Panthers, who moved to 13-7 overall and 8-4 in the GLVC.
Southern Indiana fell to 14-8 and 6-6.
Drury led 28-25 at the halftime break after a first 20 minutes that were not a thing of beauty by either team. The Screaming Eagles made just 8 of 24 shots (32 percent), while Drury made 10 of 22 (46 percent) before both teams heated up in the second half – in particular, the Panthers.
Drury made 16 of 23 shots (70 percent) after halftime while USI hit 14 of 26 (54 percent).
"We did some nice things," Drury coach Steve Hesser said. "We didn't start the second half very solid defensively, but we started executing our half-court offense. The only reason we were leading at that point was because at that time in the second half, we were shooting 75 percent from the field. We couldn't separate … but at that point, we were able to pull away.
Drury led 42-40 with 13:30 to play before a 10-2 run over the next three minutes opened up some breathing room. The Screaming Eagles cut it to four (60-56) with 6:10 to play, but the Panthers countered with an 11-2 run to push it back to 13 (71-58) with 1:30 left and secured the victory from there.
Drury got a solid effort from its bench, including eight points on 4-of-7 shooting from Douglas Moore, seven points and three rebounds to go with three blocks from Jamal Cummings and five points from Grant Boswell.
"Jamal really gave us a lift in the first half … he really did some nice things," Hesser said. "That's what we need … we need guys to come off the bench and give us a big lift. I thought Boswell gave us a lift, stepped up and hit a big shot and his defense was solid."
Bobo Drummond had 15 points to lead four USI players in double-figures, while George Edwards had eight rebounds to go with his 11 points as the Screaming Eagles defeated Drury 32-24 on the boards.
Bundy made 8 of 12 shots and added six assists for the Panthers, who will play host to No. 9 Bellarmine in a 3:15 p.m. tipoff Saturday for the fifth annual "Overflow The O'" games at the O'Reilly Center. All tickets are just $5, and kids 12-and-under are admitted for free.
