ST.LOUIS, Mo. – A team that could barely field a squad when the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament started, nearly pulled off an improbable second-half comeback in the league’s championship game, but the fifth-seeded Lewis Flyers hung on for a 76-71 win over Drury on Sunday at the Mark Twain Building in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Panthers, seeded sixth, opened the postseason with only seven players in uniform on Wednesday after COVID-19 issues had several not cleared to play. But Drury pulled off a 99-97 win at third-seeded Southwest Baptist as they played their first contest in 18 days. The Panthers then won at second-seeded Missouri-St. Louis 79-63 in the conference semifinals to advance to the championship game for the second time in three years.
On Sunday, though, it appeared the Panthers arrived with little fuel in their tank as they shot just 23 percent in the first half and trailed 36-22 at the intermission.
As they did throughout the tournament, however, Drury found another gear in the second as they shot 64 percent after halftime connecting on 18 of 28 shots, and battled from 16 points down to pull within three, 69-66, with 2:34 remaining.
After Lewis built the lead back to six, a Jason Montgomery three-pointer with 45 seconds left created a one-possession game. The Panthers forced a turnover nine seconds later, giving Drury a shot to tie the game, but the Flyers defense smothered the Panthers, creating a shot-clock violation with five seconds left. Dre Bell hit free throws in the final seconds to seal the win and championship for Lewis.
“Congratulations to Lewis, they played well,” said Drury head coach Steve Hesser. “We didn’t play with a lot of activity in the first half. We played well on offense against SBU, and we played well on offense against UMSL yesterday. What I saw today, I didn’t even recognize what that was. We didn’t have any movement and took a lot of bad shots. But with not a lot of gas left in the tank, they found a way to do some things that gave us a chance, so hats off to our guys for that.”
Victor Nwagbarachoa led Drury with 19 points, while Montgomery finished with 15.
Williams scored 19 points to lead the Flyers, who will advance to the NCAA-II tournament with a 14-9 record. Drury ends their season with an 11-10 mark.
