Lions garner come-from-behind win over Drury

Box Score

The Lions (8-4) trailed through much of the first half, including by a 38-21 margin after a 14-4 Drury burst with two minutes left. But Southern came out firing on all cylinders in the second half, making its first three buckets and capitalizing on four Panthers turnovers. After trailing 43-30 at the half, MSSU, on a 15-4 rally, cut the deficit to five points, 45-40, with just 2:30 gone in the second period.

Drury (7-3) maintained the lead until the midway point of the second half when a Daron Harris jumper gave the Lions their first lead since the opening minutes. Just over five minutes later, a layup from Ed Miles put Southern on top to stay. The Lions clung to a two-point lead after two free throws from Drury's Steven Gum with 2:34 left, but Quentin Edwards, who had 12 second-half points, buried a three-pointer 13 seconds later to make it a two-possession game. Edwards scored six points in the final 2:21 of the game.

Tyler Ryerson connected on a three-pointer, his only field goal of the game, with 1:05 left, to make it an eight-point margin, 72-64. MSSU then hit on four of its last six free throws to salt away the victory.

Edwards led the Lions with 16, as did Miles, who also had 12 second-half points. Senior Dan Jones charted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, with eight of the boards coming after the half. Ryerson finished with 11 assists for Southern, which shot a season-high 57.8 percent.

Drury, which made only 31 percent (9-29) after halftime, shot 55.2 percent in the first half. Gum had 19 points, with 12 coming in the first half, to lead the Panthers. Brandon Kimbrough added 14 points, with 10 of those in the opening period.