Drury battles back to beat Lewis in overtime

ROMEOVILLE, Ill.— Drury forward Adam Moore sank two free throws with four seconds left in overtime to give the Panthers a 79-78 win at Lewis on Thursday night in Romeoville, Illinois.
 
The win was Drury’s third victory in their last four games and raised their record to 6-9 and 2-5 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Flyers dropped to 5-9 and 1-6 in the league.
 
Drury trailed by 12 in the first half before cutting the margin to a 34-29 deficit at halftime. After grabbing an early second-half lead, Lewis surged back to an eight-point advantage, 48-40, with 13:08 remaining.
 
The Panthers responded, though, and outscored the Flyers 18-6 over a five-minute span to seize the lead. Drury was up by seven with 1:18 remaining, but Lewis found a way to force overtime.
 
Trailing 68-65 with four seconds left, the Flyers drew a foul and Beau Frericks sank his first free throw but intentionally missed the second. The Panthers were called for a foul on the ensuing rebound, and Lewis forward Elijah Williams evened the game at 68-68, hitting both free throws and sent the game into overtime.
 
Lewis owned a three-point lead, 78-75, with 49 seconds remaining in overtime, but Drury pulled within one on two foul shots from Logan Applegate. Adam Moore got a steal on the next Flyers possession, then, with four seconds left, got fouled on an offensive rebound attempt. His free throws gave the Panthers a one-point, and the win as Lewis’ three-point try at the buzzer was short.
 
“We didn’t start the game the way we wanted to, but our guys stayed with it,” said Drury head coach Chris Foster. “I was really proud of their effort and proud of Adam for coming up big with the free throws. Really proud of Brady O’Connell, too. He didn’t play in the last game but handled it like a pro and he came through big for us.”
 
O’Connell finished with eight points, including four in overtime, and he had a team-high eight rebounds.
 
Applegate led the Panthers with 22 points, while Moore added 16.
 
Atakan Sahinkaya led Lewis with 21 points.
 
Drury went 25 for 62 from the field for 40 percent, while the Flyers were 25 of 64 for 39 percent. The Panthers hit 10 three-pointers on 31 tries, while Lewis was 7 for 24 from three-point range.
 
“I’ve really been proud of the way we’ve handled adversity,” added Foster. “I think if you handle adversity and challenges the right way, then you can come out successful on the other side of it, and I think we’re seeing that with this group.”
 
Drury was without starting guard Trey Lewis, who missed Thursday’s game with an illness.
   
The Panthers continue the road trip on Saturday when they travel to Illinois Springfield for a 3 pm game.
 
 
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