SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— With members of Drury’s 2013 NCAA-II men’s basketball national championship team in attendance, the Panthers turned in an inspired performance on Saturday with a 69-58 win over Missouri-St. Louis at the O’Reilly Family Event Center.
UMSL dropped to 18-7 and 10-7 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, while Drury went 8-16 and 4-12 in the league.
The Panthers trailed by eight early in the second half but outscored the Tritons 22-4 for nearly an eight-minute span and took a 57-47 lead with 4:47 remaining. The Panthers held UMSL to 27 points in the second half and closed out the game to win by 11.
“It’s been really inspiring having the 2013 national championship team around and you could feel the tradition and the history of the program in spending some time with them,” said Drury head coach Chris Foster. “That was a lot of what we talked about before the game – let’s go out and honor those guys by how we compete and how we play. We want those guys to understand how grateful we are to have the opportunities we have because of the hard work and effort they put in, in addition to all the others that came before them.”
Logan Applegate led the Panthers with 24 points, going 8 for 14 from the field and 5 of 11 from three-point range. Preston Cook added 11 points and six rebounds, while Riley Naeger chipped in 10 points with two steals. Drury had 20 assists on 25 made shots in the game as the Panthers went 25 for 54 from the field.
Missouri-St. Louis was led by former Drury Panther Victor Nwagbarachoa, who had 16 points.
Drury celebrated the 10th anniversary of their 2013 NCAA-II Championship as part of Homecoming festivities on the DU campus.
Drury’s win on Saturday avenged their biggest loss of the season, as the Tritons had beaten the Panthers earlier this year by 23, 86-63, on Dec. 1 in St. Louis.
Drury travels to seventh-ranked Indianapolis for their next game as they take on the Greyhounds on Thur., Feb. 16 at 6:30 pm (CST).
