Second Half Rally Leads Panthers to National TItle

For a team that did not make the NCAA DII tournament a year ago, it was only fitting that a rally from 17 points down in the championship game would give the Drury Panthers a 74-73 win over the Metro State Roadrunners for the national title.
  The win was the 23rd in a row and maybe the most improbable for the Panthers(31-4.) The Panthers trailed 39-22 with 2:51 left in the opening half. The Roadrunners were in command on the scoreboard 39-27 at the half despite the Panthers scoring the halves last five points. The Roadrunners dominated the rebounding battle 18-10 and Metro State had just four turnovers while forcing 12 from DU. Alex Hall sparked a rally early in the second half with a 4 point play that cut the Roadrunners lead to six (43-37.) less than three minutes into the half. A Lonnie Boga 3-pointer with 13:29 to go tied the game at 53. After a few minutes of back and forth action, the Panthers would get the lead 59-58 on a Hall 3-pointer with 9:31 to go. The Roadrunners would then run off the next six points to take a five point lead. It was 73-67 Metro State with 3:51 to go, but the Panthers hold the Roadrunners scoreless over the last 3:51 to secure the title. Hall hit a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left that proved to be the game winners. The Panthers ended the game on a 7-0 run. Hall led the way with 21 points on the day. Brandon Lockhart added 14, Drake Patterson netted 12, and Ian Carter added 10. The Panthers shot 54.2 percent (26-48) from the field. They were a red hot 57.9 percent (11-19) from the 3-point line. The Panthers shot 64.7 percent (11-17) at the foul line. They had 20 assists and 19 turnovers.
  The Roadrunners suffered a crushing title game defeat and fell to 32-3 on the season. The Roadrunners had five players score in double figures on the day. Brandon Jefferson (19) and Mitch McCarron (16) led the way. Demitrius Miller and Jonathan Morse added 14 each. Nicholas Kay had 10. The Roadrunners did not get a single point from the bench in the title game in a total of 15 minutes of action. The Raodrunners shot 46 percent (29-63) from the field and hit just 31 percent (6-19) of their shots from the 3-point line. Metro shot 75 percent (9-12) from the foul line. They won the rebounding battle 33-27. The Roadrunners had 10 assists and turned it over 10 times.