No. 22 Panthers Outlast Missouri S & T In Overtime For 72-62 Triumph To Clinch GLVC West Title
ROLLA – After a cold-shooting finish to regulation, No. 22 Drury heated up in overtime at the free-throw line to come away with a 72-62 Great Lakes Valley Conference win over Missouri Science and Technology here on Monday night and clinched its third West Division title in five seasons as a result.
Chase Elliott scored 20 points and Dennon Mitchell added 12 points as the Panthers improved 21-5 overall and 14-3 in the GLVC, maintaining their two and a half game lead over second-place Rockhurst in the West with just one to play (at Rockhurst on Thursday).
The triumph also clinched a GLVC Tournament first-round bye and a quarterfinals home game at Weiser Gym on Feb. 28 against an opponent to be determined.
After going the final 5:01 of regulation without a field goal – and going 0 for 7 from the field in that stretch – the Panthers were finally able to open up some breathing room in the overtime.
First came a pair of free throws from Elliott, two more from Alex Hall and a short Brandon Lockhart jumper to open up a 64-58 advantage with 3:10 remaining. By the time a Lockhart steal produced two more Hall free throws and Mitchell had come up with a steal and layup with 1:44 left, the Panthers had opened up a 69-60 advantage and took it home from there.
The Panthers hit just 7 of 25 shots in the second half (28 percent), but went 2-for-3 from the field and 10 of 14 at the line in the extra session to pull out the win over the pesky Miners (7-18, 3-13). Drury made just 24 of 57 shots (42 percent) for the game, including a 2-for-10 night (20 percent) from behind the 3-point line.
It marked the second straight trip to Rolla that Drury needed overtime to down S & T, with the Panthers winning 91-84 here in two overtimes last season.
Drury got the best shot from the Miners again this time, as S & T held a 36-34 advantage at halftime and charged back from a five-point deficit (58-53)
“It’s five minutes less than what we played here last year,” Drury coach Steve Hesser quipped. “We’ve got to do things collectively. We had guys the last five minutes wanting to be heroes. Instead of going out there and doing the little things to make it happen … we wanted to do it on our own.
“As we’ve lost some energy here at the end of the year, we’ve got some guys who just aren’t taking rebounding very serious. We got outrebounded 13 tonight (45-32) … we’ve got to get in the gym and get that corrected.
“But I’m really proud of the way we played in overtime. We stepped it up, made some steals and got the ball into some positions where we could score. So hats off to the guys for that.”
Lockhart, in addition to the big jumper to get the Panthers going in overtrime, added seven rebounds and three steals. Hall finished without a field goal (0 for 4), but hit 8 of 10 free throws to help the Panthers seal the victory.
Freshman guard Bryce Foster had 16 points to lead three Miners in double-figures, while Adam Knollmeyer added 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Miners, who committed 21 turnovers to 13 by DU.
“They played our tails off … give them credit for that,” Hesser said. “We were fortunate to get out of here with a win, and I give the guys some credit for stepping up and doing the things to get a win in overtime.”
Drury closes the regular season at Rockhurst on Thursday in a 7:30 p.m. GLVC matchup that, while it has no West Division implications, remains important for NCAA-II region rankings.
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