SPRINGFIELD – Drury’s rally in the final two minutes fell short in a 76-75 loss at home to the Lewis Flyers on Saturday at the O’Reilly Family Event Center.
Lewis (9-5, 4-0) never trailed but the Panthers (10-3, 3-2) made a late charge from nine points behind in the final 2:07 and had a chance to win the game at the buzzer.
Tevin Foster sank two free throws for Drury with six seconds left that got the Panthers within one, 76-75. Drury forced Lewis into a turnover on the subsequent in-bounds play giving the Panthers a chance at the win.
Foster managed to get into the lane but his runner bounced off the rim at the buzzer.
“We’ve just got to get better,” said Drury head coach Steve Hesser. “Hats off to our guys for their effort late, but there were just way too many defensive mistakes. We’re not playing nearly hard enough to put us in a position to win.
Lewis jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the game’s first six minutes and built a 38-25 advantage by halftime. The Panthers trailed by as much 15 in the second half and were down 12, 68-56, with 5:42 left before mounting their comeback attempt.
John Williams led Drury with a game-high 23 points while Isaac Johnson added 16.
Miles Simelton paced Lewis with 21 points.
The victory was Lewis’ seventh win in their last eight games.
The loss for 12th ranked Drury marks the first time this year they have lost back-to-back games.
The Panthers go on the road for two games next week. Drury is at Saint Joseph’s on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and play at Indianapolis on Saturday at 2 p.m. (Central Time).
