After trailing for almost the entire first half, 13th ranked Findlay came alive after halftime and advanced to the second round of the NCAA-II Midwest Regional Tournament with an 84-65 win over the Drury Panthers at Jim Wink Arena in Big Rapids, Michigan on Saturday.
The Panthers, the sixth seed in the region, controlled most of the first 20 minutes shooting 54 percent from the field on their way to a 38-34 lead at the intermission.
Findlay, seeded third, responded by opening the second half with a dunk from Alex White, then a three-pointer from Taren Sullivan to seize a 39-38 lead in a 51-second span. The Oilers kept momentum and outscored the Panthers 50-27 after halftime.
“It was a tale of two halves,” said Drury head coach Steve Hesser. “We did some good things early, and we would have been happy to end the game at halftime, but Findlay came out in the second half with more energy than we had. We didn’t take care of the ball well the whole game, and we had a hard time stopping Sullivan. He made some open shots, but he also scored a lot off of shots he created at times when I thought our defense on him was still pretty good.”
Sullivan led the Oilers with 26 points and scored 16 of them in the second half. The 6-6, 220-pound senior, was 10 for 17 from the field and 4 for 8 from three-point range.
Findlay forced Drury into 18 turnovers, a total that matched their season-high and turned those into a 24-7 advantage in points-off-turnovers.
The Oilers shot 56 from the floor in the second half connecting on 18 of their 32 attempts and, after the Panthers shot 54 percent from the field in the first half, Drury was just 8 for 22 in the second half.
Douglas Moore led the Panthers with 14 points and the junior from Lawton, Oklahoma added eight rebounds. Kamau Kinder had 12 points, and Kolbe Kinghorn contributed 10.
Findlay raised their record to 27-4 and advanced to the second round of the tournament for the second straight season.
Drury ended their year with a 21-8 record and reached the NCAA-II tournament with a roster that featured only one senior, had seven underclassmen, and eight newcomers.
“I’m proud of my guys for making it here,” said Hesser. “We need to get to work, but we have almost everybody coming back. This experience should motivate them and, hopefully, give them a measuring stick on what it takes to be here and what you have to do to move forward.”
