Alex Hall made three treys and added 15 points, Brandon Lockhart had 12 points, seven assists and six steals and Ian Carter matched Josh Buie with 10 points and added a game-high 11 rebounds for the Panthers (1-0).
Drury built a 50-31 lead over the NCAA Division III opponent by halftime and watched the Eagles play them to a 38-37 score in the second half.
"We did some good things in the first half ... we shared the ball and got locked in defensively, only had six turnovers and had 12 assists on 19 baskets," Drury coach Steve Hessersaid. "In the second half, we struggled to maintain focus, we were sloppy, had defensive errors ... and they're not going to just quit. That's what this team has got to understand: Big leads can evaporate if you get off track, and teams can come back on you."
University of the Ozarks got to within 15 on a couple of second-half occasions, but each time, the Panthers answered with a run. It was 66-51 with 10:14 left when Drury went on a 12-2 surge - keyed by five points from Adams - to push it back to 25 at 78-53 with eight minutes to go
Adams, who had 19 points and 12 rebounds in Monday's 104-60 exhibition win over Hillsdale Baptist, was a sparkplug again off the bench for DU in the opener, hitting 8 of 10 shots and adding a pair of steals and assists in his 26 minutes of time.
"On Monday and again tonight, one thing Cameron has done is gone to the offensive boards pretty well, and he's got a lot of buckets off that," Hesser said. "We've been telling him to score, and our guards have got the ball to him in good spots, too. He played last year, and we expect him to contribute and top what he did his freshman year."
Dodd finished with 22 points and Joshua Clark added 11 points for Ozarks, which was outrebounded 50-31 by the Panthers. In addition to Carter's 11 boards and nine from Adams,Drake Patterson had six rebounds and Teddy Simniok added five.
Drury is back in action on Tuesday, hosting Southwest Baptist in a 7:45 p.m. tipoff at The O' in the annual Bank of Bolivar "Highway 13 Catfight".
"I just told the guys there were some good things we did tonight and some things we need to do better," Hesser said. "The level of competition goes up for us the rest of the first semester, so we'd better start dialing in and start stacking good possessions upon good possessions."
E-Mail
Print
