SPRINGFIELD, Mo.– The Drury Panthers kicked off a three-game home stand on Monday night with a 72-65 win over the William Jewell Cardinals in Great Lakes Valley Conference action at the O’Reilly Family Event Center.
The Panthers played efficient basketball on the evening, committing just six turnovers against the Cardinals, while hitting on 11 of 31 attempts from three-point range in gaining a season split of their series with the visitors from Liberty, Missouri.
“I’m really proud of how we’re moving the ball and sharing it offensively,” said Drury head coach Chris Foster. “You look and see we’ve had just 14 turnovers in the last two games and we’ve had that many in a half this year, so just proud of our growth in that area.”
After holding a 44-35 halftime edge, the Panthers moved in front by as many as 17 points in the second half, before the Cardinals pulled it to a nine point difference twice in the final five minutes of action.
Drury (7-11, 4-6 GLVC) got solid balanced scoring in winning for the second consecutive game. Sophomore Quenton Shelton paced the way, hitting for a team high 16 points, while seniors Malek Davis and Victory Nwagbarachoa added 14 each. Sophomore Riley Naeger chipped in 10.
Davis, who had 31 points in Saturday’s win at Lindenwood, also had seven of the Panther’s 17 assists.
“Malek really carried the scoring work for us at Lindenwood, but he probably played a better game tonight,” added Foster. “14 points, seven assists and just one turnover was great. We’ve asked a lot of him and he such a tough kid, I’m really proud of how he’s playing for us.”
The Cardinals now 11-11 overall and 7-7 in the GLVC were paced in scoring by Jordan Jermain, who had a game-high 22.
The Panthers are back in action on Thursday, February 10th, when they will host Southern Indiana in a 7:45 pm game at the O’Reilly Family Event Center.
