Tony Rack scored 13 points, and Ethan Faulkner added seven assists.
Box score
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The unbeaten streak ended for Northern Kentucky University on Saturday, one victory away from setting a school record for best start to a season.
Drury halted NKU's 13-game winning streak with an 83-72 victory against the visiting Norse. The Panthers rallied from a 13-point deficit early in the game and handed No. 8 NKU its first loss of the season.
NKU (13-1 overall, 5-1 Great Lakes Valley Conference) had tied the school record for best start to a season Thursday night with a dominating 62-36 victory at Missouri S&T. Drury, however, denied the Norse's bid for a 14th consecutive win by making 37 free throws in 51 attempts en route to Saturday's upset.
The officiating crew of Nathan Chitwood, Garth Silvey and Ryan Odneal called a total of 59 personal fouls, 36 of those against NKU.
Eshaunte Jones and
DeAndre Nealy both fouled out, while four other NKU players finished with four fouls in the whistle-dominated game.
Drury took advantage of the NKU foul trouble and cashed in at the free-throw line to rally from an early 18-5 deficit. The Panthers were 18-for-27 from the charity stripe in the first half as every NKU player who saw action picked up at least one foul.
By halftime, Drury owned a 38-33 lead. The Panthers led the entire second half, holding off a late NKU comeback that pulled the Norse within a basket (66-64) with 3:29 left on the clock. A conventional three-point play by Cameron Adams with 3:11 remaining, however, boosted the Drury lead to 69-64.
Brandon Lockhart then made four consecutive free throws to extend the Panthers advantage to 73-64, and NKU was unable to get closer than four points the rest of the game.
Lockhart scored 24 points for Drury, which snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 9-6 overall, 3-4 in the GLVC. NKU is now 6-3 all-time against Drury.
Jon Van Hoose finished with 18 points for NKU, while teammates
Tony Rack and
Chad Jackson each scored 13.
Ethan Faulkner dished out seven assists for the Norse.
Drury won the rebounding battle by a 38-24 margin. The Panthers shot 59.1 percent from the field in the second half and finished at 48.9 percent.
NKU wraps up the three-game road trip Monday by squaring off against defending national champion Bellarmine in Knights Hall at 8 p.m.
Bellarmine is No. 3 in this week's NCAA Division II poll. The Knights defeated NKU three times last season and are 7-1 against the Norse in the last eight meetings.
NORSE NOTES: Prior to Saturday, the most free throws ever attempted by an NKU opponent was 50, by Southern Indiana on March 1, 1997, in Evansville, Ind. Southern Indiana was 33-for-50 in that game, a 116-111 overtime win over NKU in the PAC Arena...the most free throws ever attempted by NKU is 68 against Spalding on Dec. 8, 1994, during a 95-82 win in Louisville, Ky. The Norse were 52-for-68 from the line in that victory. The 52 made free throws is also an NKU single-game record.
