Drury has parlayed a 6-0 start into a season debut at No. 19 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Top 25 national poll released on Tuesday.
Coach Steve Hesser's Panthers - 6-0 for just the third time since the program moved to the NCAA-II level in 1994-95 - will put that status on the line on the road in their final three games before the holiday break.
Drury will visit Wayne State (5-1) in Detroit, Michigan for a 2 p.m. tipoff on Saturday before heading West to Las Vegas for the South Point Shootout Classic, where the Panthers will play defending national champion and sixth-ranked Western Washington (7-0) in a 7 p.m. CST tipoff on Tuesday.
Drury will take on St. Mary's (6-1) on Wednesday to conclude the two-day event.
The Panthers are also well represented in the latest NCAA-II national statistics released this week. Drury is one of only 19 remaining unbeaten squads in D-II, and ranks second nationally in FG percentage defense (.350) and average margin of victory (32.3 point), third in scoring defense (55.2 points) and assists per game (23.3) and fifth in steals per game (12.7).
Senior point guard Brandon Lockhart leads the nation in steals per game (4.83) and ranks third nationally in assists per game (7.8), while senior shooting guard Alex Hall is tied for the national lead in FT percentage (100 pct., 15 for 15) and ranks third in 3-point FG percentage (.568) and fourth in 3-pointers made per game (4.17).
The Panthers will return to GLVC for home games at the O'Reilly Center on January 3 against Lewis and January 5 against Wisconsin-Parkside.
NABC/Division II Coaches Poll (Dec. 11, 2012 – Regular season poll #4)
Record Points Pvs
1. West Liberty, W.Va. (12 first place votes) 8-0 393 1
2. Washburn, Kan. (1 first place vote) 7-0 377 2
3. Metropolitan State, Colo. (1 first place vote) 7-0 361 3
4. Alabama-Huntsville (1 first place vote) 7-1 344 4
5. Bellarmine, Ky. (1 first place vote) 6-0 340 5
6. Western Washington 7-0 333 6
7. Southern Indiana 5-0 296 7
8. Cal Poly Pomona 7-0 285 9
9. Seattle Pacific, Wash. 8-1 276 8
10. Northwest Missouri State 8-0 247 12
11. St. Cloud State, Minn. 6-0 233 14
12. Franklin Pierce, N.H. 7-1 201 15
13. Kentucky Wesleyan 5-0 194 16
14. Indianapolis, Ind. 7-0 187 17
15. Augusta State, Ga. 5-0 160 21
16. Barton, N.C. 7-1 134 10
17. Assumption, Mass. 8-0 119 24
18. Indiana, Pa. 6-1 114 22 19. Drury, Mo. 6-0 109 NR
20. Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. 6-1 91 11
21. Minnesota State 6-1 54 20
22. Tampa, Fla. 6-0 51 NR
23. Winston-Salem State, N.C. 6-2 40 NR
24. Findlay, Ohio 5-2 36 13
25. Alaska-Anchorage 7-2 32 NR
Dropped out: Winona State (18), Christian Brothers (19), North Alabama (23), West Texas A&M (25).
Others receiving votes: King (Tenn.) 29, Newman (Kan.) 27, Winona State (Minn.) 19, Florida Southern 16, Colorado Mesa 15, Christian Brothers (Tenn.) 14, Adams State (Colo.) 11, Augustana (S.D.) 11, Wayne State (Mich.) 9, West Texas A&M 7, Cal State-San Bernardino 6, Maryville (Mo.) 6, Anderson (S.C.) 5, Michigan Tech 4, Post (Conn.) 4, East Stroudsburg (Pa.) 3, Massachusetts-Lowell 2, North Alabama 2, Colorado School of Mines 2, Grand Canyon (Ariz.) 1, Shepherd (W.Va.) 1.
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