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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Sophomore Kamau Kinder was nearly flawless Saturday afternoon as he helped guide the Drury Panthers to a 74-57 win over Wisconsin-Parkside and in the process helped Panthers head coach Steve Hesser to his 300th career victory at the helm of the program.
Kinder was 7 of 8 shooting from the floor including a perfect 4 of 4 from 3-point range to lead the Panther scoring with 18 points.
“I think we were a lot sharper defensively today than on Thursday (which was a 72-53 loss to Lewis) and we let the fact that we didn’t make shots affect our intensity,” said Hesser.
The Panthers held a 39-26 lead at halftime after hitting on 14 of 25 shots, including 7 of 15 from 3-point range.
In addition to Kinder’s 18 points, the Panthers (19-5, 12-4 in GLVC) got double-figure scoring from junior Allen Billinger who had 14, while junior Douglas Moore added 11. The Rangers were led in scoring by Adam Bonk who finished with 15.
The Panthers outrebounded UW-Parkside 36-22 with Moore leading the way with seven.
Hesser is now 300-111 in his 14th season as Panther head coach. Only the legendary A.L. Wesier has more wins as a Drury head coach with 316.
“It’s not a Steve Hesser thing,” said the head coach on his 300th career win. “It’s been players, assistant coaches and a lot of people behind the scenes and I’m glad to have been a part of it.”
With the loss, UW-Parkside dropped to 9-16, and 7-9 in GLVC.
Drury’s win, along with a loss by Truman State on Saturday to Bellarmine, gives the Panthers the outright lead in the Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division with a league mark of 12-4.
