Senior forward Chris Ijames scored 14 points to lead four Panthers in double-figures as Drury pulled away from a feisty Upper Iowa for an 81-67 victory in the season opener for both teams before 1,278 fans Saturday night at Weiser Gym.
Seniors Adam White and Jamel Grant and freshman Dominique Long added 10 points each for the Panthers, ranked 17th in the preseason D-II Bulletin national poll.
A.J. Adkins had 16 points to lead Upper Iowa, a member of the NCAA-II Northern Sun Conference and coached by former Missouri State assistant Brian Dolan.
Drury led 40-33 at halftime, but watched the Peacocks cut the advantage to three (42-39) less than two minutes into the second half. The Panthers then went on an 8-2 run, keyed by a pair of layups from Long, to push the advantage back to nine (50-41), and Upper Iowa never got closer than seven from there.
"It was a start," Drury coach Steve Hesser said. "I thought Upper Iowa did a really nice job. Teams from this area, if they've seen Creighton, they understand that's their blueprint. And they gave us some trouble, especially after the 10-minute mark in the first half. We got a little tired and didn't jump to the ball as well ... they kind of sliced us a little bit the last 10 minutes.
"We got a big steal, Dusty Allen got a couple of baskets inside ... and I thought Dominique really gave us some energy in the second half. It's game one, so it's a start."
The Panthers got a combined 29 points, 10 rebounds and six assists from the freshman foursome of Long, Allen, Dennon Mitchell and Kyle Vaughan.
"They're going to have to play," Hesser said. "If I was a freshman, that's what I'd want. I think tonight, as we did last Saturday, we made some progress.
"They've got to learn ... sometimes it's hard to simulate things in practice. We're going to play probably 10, 11 guys every game, and that's different for me. I've got to do a better job of settling on a rotation, because sometimes you can forget some people when you're rotating so many players."
Adam White had six rebounds to pace the Panthers on the boards as Drury claimed a slim 28-27 advantage. Drury forced 21 turnovers by the Peacocks while committing just 12.
The Panthers return to action on Wednesday, hosting St. Gregory's in a 7 p.m. non-conference tipoff at Weiser.
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