QU men lead start to finish, fend off Drury’s late rally to run win streak to three straight games

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — What began as a 3-point shootout morphed into a battle of wills down the stretch.

When that happened Friday afternoon, the Quincy University men’s basketball team showcased its toughness.

The Hawks saw Drury trim their 15-point advantage with less than six minutes to play down to three with 20 seconds remaining in regulation. However, the Panthers’ Obi Okafor missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Hawks held on for an 83-80 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory at the O’Reilly Events Center.

Quincy (15-14, 7-11 GLVC) guarantees itself of finishing the regular season with at least a .500 record for the second time in the last five years heading into Saturday’s game at Southwest Baptist. The Hawks also are riding a three-game win streak for the first time since winning consecutive games at home in January 2020.

This is the first three-game win streak in GLVC play involving a road game since 2018.

The Hawks scored the game’s first eight points, built a 12-point lead within the first five minutes and led by as many as 14 points in the first half. Quincy made 9 of 16 3-pointers in the first half and held a 12-point lead at halftime.

Drury kept itself in the game with its 3-point shooting, going 8 of 15 from the perimeter.

In the second half, the Panthers trimmed the deficit to four within the first 7 ½ minutes and got within 60-58 on an Okafor dunk with 10:34 remaining. The Hawks answered and pushed the advantage to 76-61 after a Silas Crisler 3-pointer with 5:42 to play.

The Panthers rallied again, going on an 11-0 run to make it a four-point game with 2:33 left. Hawks guard Mark Bradshaw Jr. stopped the run with a 3-pointer and buried another jumper a minute later to make it a six-point game as the Hawks never surrendered the lead.

Paul Zilinkas led the Hawks with 21 points, while Adam Moore had 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists, and Bradshaw and Charles Callier each had 10 points.