Alex Hall scored 26 points, hitting 6 of 11 from 3-point range, to lead four Panthers in double-figures. Chris Parks added 18 points and a team-high seven rebounds, Brandon Lockhart had 12 points and Dennon Mitchell added 10 points, all in the second half, as Drury outscored the Blue Knights 55-36 over the final 20 minutes.
"I was pleased with our intensity and effort in the second half," Drury coach Steve Hesser said. "i thought Urbana outworked us in the first half, but credit to our guys for stepping it up after halftime, although our rebounding still was very poor tonight, and that's something we'll have to get corrected."
The Panthers (4-1), with their second straight matchup and victory against an NCAA-II Midwest Region foe, broke open a tight game just after haltime, opening the second half on a 9-2 run capped by a 3-pointer by Hall that gave Drury a 50-38 advantage with 16:38 to go.
Urbana (1-6) would get no closer than 10 the rest of the way. The Panthers kept the Blue Knights at bay with an assault from 3-point range, getting a combined five treys in less than six minutes from Lockhart and Hall to lead 70-54 with eight minutes remaining, and taking it home from there.
Drury hit 8 of 12 3-point tries in the second half - and 10 for 19 (53 percent) for the contest - to overcome a 36-26 deficit on the boards.
The Panthers committed a season-low 13 turnovers, including zero in 30 minutes of court time from Lockhart. Drury also had 24 assists, with Hall and DaQuan Brown delivering five each and Parks adding four. Ten Panthers scored in the game, and nine different DU players picked up assists.
"We cut down our turnovers, shared the basketball and created opportunities for our teammates much better this weekend than we had up to this point," Hesser said.
Drury led 41-36 at halftime, using an 8-3 spurt to end the half after the Blue Knights had briefly gained the lead with three minutes to play. Parks had 14 points and Hall 10 points to lead the Panthers, who were outrebounded 17-15 in the half.
Sophomore guard/forward Robert Wilson led Urbana with 18 points, but had just four after halftime. He also paced the Blue Knights with 10 rebounds.
Urbana committed 22 turnovers and shot just 40 percent (24 of 60) from the field, while the Panthers finished at 58 percent (32 of 55), including 67-percent shooting (18 of 27) in the second half.
Drury also made 22 of 27 free throws (82 percent), including a combined 13 of 14 from the backcourt trio of Hall, Lockhart and Mitchell.
The Panthers return home to open Great Lakes Valley Conference play at the O'Reilly Family Event Center next week, entertaining Illinois-Springfield in an 8 p.m. tipoff on Thursday and Saint Joseph's at 3:15 p.m. Saturday, the latter representing Drury Athletics Hall of Fame Day.
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