Kameron Bundy scored 24 points to lead five Panthers in double-figures – and moved into the Top 10 scorers in Drury Basketball history in the process – in a 77-70 triumph at Illinois Springfield in Great Lakes Valley Conference action from the TRAC.
Bundy now has 1,643 points in his four-year career as a Panther, moving him past Roland Schultz (1,633 from 1967-71) and into 10th place on the all-time DU scoring charts. More importantly, his big night helped the Panthers improve to 15-7 overall and 10-4 in the GLVC, keeping DU in a tie atop the GLVC West standings with Quincy.
"We really did some nice things in the first half on both ends of the floor," Drury coach Steve Hesser said. "I thought we defended them well – they shot 29 percent in the first half – and we really had good flow in the first 10 minutes, but lost our aggressiveness on the offensive end. In the second half, they were getting after us, we got some back-cut layups … but they just played harder than we did in the second half. Give credit to Illinois Springfield.
"When we quit making shots … they got us out of our comfort zone a little bit. But give our guys some credit, because they kind of got off track and they didn't continue to stay off track. We made some plays down the stretch. Anytime you win on the road, it's a good win. We need to extend the times we're really collective on the defensive end and when we have that flow and rhythm on offense."
Jamal Cummings had a DU-career high 12 points off the bench and the Panthers got 10 points each from Tevin Foster, Joshua Palmer and Drew Moore in picking up the road win. Palmer also added a season-high 11 rebounds for DU, which led by as many as 17 points before holding off the hard-charging Prairie Stars (9-15, 3-11) down the stretch.
J.J. Cravatta had 25 points off the bench to lead Illinois Springfield, which received 19 points from Jamal Millison.
Drury led 39-28 at halftime – getting eight points each from Bundy, Palmer and Cummings – and pushed that lead to 17 at 47-30 with an 8-0 start to the second half.
But the Prairie Stars answered with a 13-2 run to make it a game again, and would stay within striking distance – closing with four on a pair of second-half occasions – before the Panthers made their clutch free throws down the stretch. Bundy, Palmer and Lucciano Gamiz went a combined 6-for-6 in the final 42 seconds from the stripe, and Foster added a steal in the final seconds, to seal the win.
The Panthers shot 49 percent from the field for the game (25 of 51), while limiting the Prairie Stars to 36-percent shooting (25 of 69), including just 9 of 26 from 3-point range.
Drury will play its final regular season GLVC road game on Saturday with a 3 p.m. start at McKendree in Lebanon, Ill. The Panthers will close out with three straight at home – February 18 vs. Maryville (Play 4Kay/Pink Zone For Cancer Awareness), February 20 vs. UMSL (Homecoming) and February 25 against Missouri S&T (Senior Night).
