Kameron Bundy scored 19 points to lead three in double-figures and the Panthers pulled away with clutch free throws down the stretch to knock off nationally ninth-ranked Bellarmine 66-56 before an arena-record crowd of 3,003 Saturday afternoon for the fifth annual "Overflow The O'" at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
Tevin Foster added 17 points – including a 9-for-10 showing at the free-throw line – and Joshua Palmer had 15 points and eight rebounds as the Panthers won the matchup of perennial Great Lakes Valley Conference powers to improve to 14-7 overall and 9-4 in the league.
Bellarmine fell to 18-4 and 11-2 as an electric atmosphere – including an overflowed, enthusiastic student section – helped lift the Panthers down the stretch, much to the delight of a full house on "Overflow The O'" day.
"Wow," Drury coach Steve Hesser said. "For Michele Boswell, Carol Oliver and their posse that put this together to come up with an idea five years ago … it's just a great game-day environment to have a chance to play college basketball in, and to play a team and program as good and as well-coached as Bellarmine … I couldn't be more proud of my guys this afternoon."
Drury won – and ended a string of Saturday disappointments, with losses in four of their six previous Saturday GLVC games – despite shooting just 33 percent from the field (17 of 51).
How, exactly?
A 37-35 rebounding advantage against a team that starts two 6-foot-10 players and brings 6-8s off the bench, led by eight rebounds from Palmer, seven by Drew Moore and six from Douglas Moore, was big.
Outscoring Bellarmine 25-9 at the line, as the Panthers were whistled for just three fewer fouls (22-19) than the Knights, but made their trips count. Not only was Foster deadly at the line, but Moore – who was 8 for 15 at the stripe coming in – made 7 of 8 free throws.
"Sometimes the moment is not too big for you, and it wasn't too big for Dougie," Hesser said. "So that's cool."
And by forcing 17 turnovers from the Knights while committing just 12 themselves … as well as holding Bellarmine to a 42-percent shooting day, including a 3-for-21 showing from 3-point range from a Knights squad that was leading the GLVC in 3-point percentage (.428) coming into the contest.
As a result, Drury moved back into a first-place tie in the GLVC West at 9-4 as Quincy and Truman State both suffered losses on Saturday. The Panthers have five league games remaining – going to Illinois Springfield (Thursday) and McKendree (Saturday) next week – before finishing with home games against West foes Maryville, UMSL and Missouri S&T.
"We just need to build on this and keep going forward," Hesser said.
Rusty Troutman was the lone Bellarmine to reach double-figures, finishing with 17 points.
