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SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Balanced scoring and an important run midway through the second half of the contest, carried the Drury Panthers to an 85-75 win over visiting Southwest Baptist in the annual Highway 13 CatFight Tuesday night at the O’Reilly Family Event Center in Springfield.
Sophomore Conley Garrison hit for a team-high 24 points, including five on back-to-back possessions with less than two minutes to play to pace the Panther offense. Garrison was 7 of 15 from the field including 4 of 9 from 3-point distance and a perfect 6 for 6 from the free throw line.
After trailing 36-34 at halftime, the host Panthers grabbed the lead shortly after the break, then went on 13-2 run with 13:00 remaining to increase their margin to 14 points, and managed to hold off a pair of late charges by the Bearcats to claim the win.
Senior Andrew Ballock added 17 points with fellow seniors John Williams and Douglas Moore chipping in 13 and 10 each to back to Panther attack. Sophomore Chris Rossow captured game scoring honors with 30 points to lead the way for Southwest Baptist. Drury outrebounded the Bearcats 34-27 on the night and had an impressive 26 assists for the game.
After opening the season with three road losses on a west coast swing, the Panthers are now 2-3 overall, with the Bearcats standing 1-2 on the season.
Next up for the Panthers is a November 17th meeting with William Woods at 1 p.m. at the O’Reilly Family Event Center.
