Cameron Adams tips in a shot against Illinois-Springfield in their quarterfinal matchup.  (photo/courtesy Drury University)

Cameron Adams scored a career-high 32 points and the top-seeded Drury men’s basketball team defeated 8th seeded Illinois Springfield 72-64 in a Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship quarterfinal game Friday afternoon at the Ford Center in Evansville, IN.

Adams hit 11 of 12 shots and beat his previous best of 28 points earlier this season at Truman State to lift the defending national champion Panthers to a 25-2 overall mark and into Saturday’s 6 p.m. semifinal against fifth-seed Southern Indiana. The Screaming Eagles defeated No. 4 seed Lewis 92-74 in Friday’s first quarterfinal.

Adams led four Panthers in double-figures. Kameron Bundy had 11 points and seven rebounds, while Ian Carter and Lonnie Boga scored 10 points each.

So the Panthers now get a second meeting with Southern Indiana, after beating the Screaming Eagles 64-56 on January 11 on their home court. It’s also a rematch of last year’s GLVC tourney title game, when Drury won 71-65 for its second league championship.

Story courtesy of DruryPanthers.com

The Duke’s Blue Devils have invited the NCAA-II national champion Drury Panthers to play an exhibition men’s basketball game at their famed Cameron Indoor Stadium next winter. Drury athletic officials received the e-mail invitation for a preseason game next season in late October as well as congratulations from Duke athletic officials early this afternoon while the team is still in Atlanta after the Panthers defeated Metro State 74-73 on Sunday for their first NCAA-II title.

Duke, under legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski, has traditionally extended invitations to the D-II champions. The Blue Devils played defending D-II champion Western Washington, who Drury beat in the semifinals, in an exhibition last season at Cameron Indoor and beat the Warriors 105-87.

The Panthers will return to the Springfield airport around noon on Tuesday and will immediately head to campus for a very brief “welcome home” ceremony.

Drury celebrates their first ever Division II National Championship

Drury University rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat Metro State 74-73 and claim the men’s basketball, Division II National Championship, Sunday in Atlanta. “I thought they were the tougher basketball team in the first 20 minutes,” Drury coach Steve Hesser admitted. “We were having trouble getting matched up in transition. They were making three’s. We weren’t doing what we’ve done in the last month on offense. I thought we were taking some difficult shots. We were turning it over, as well.”

Hesser who has been battling pneumonia and a blood bacteria for almost a month hasn’t had a lot of energy and didn’t give a big “rah-rah” speech at halftime. His instructions to his team at the half were simple.

“If we go down, let’s go down being us and let’s go down together.”

Trailing 39-27, to start the second half, Drury began to rally. The Panthers outscored Metro State 47-34 and tied the game at 53-53 with 13:29 to play.

In the second half, after Drury tied the game, Metro still held onto the lead all the way (by as much as six at one point) until the final 23 seconds when senior and Springfield native Alex Hall finally hit two free throws to give the Panthers their final margin of victory.

Postgame video from Springfield News-Leader

The game was close for the first nine minutes as Metro held an 18-17 lead, but over the next six minutes, Metro outscored the Panthers 15-5 to open up a 33-22 lead with 5:03 to play. Four turnovers and a missed shot by Drury, extended that lead to 17 with 2:51 to play.

Watch the championship highlights

Hesser talked about his two senior guards who helped carry this team all season and they led the charge again.  Hall finished with 21 points and Brandon Lockhart with 14.

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The attendance of 7,763 was the most for a D-II championship game since 1971.

The Drury University men’s basketball team will be playing for the NCAA Division II national title on Sunday when they face Metro State.  Below is some information on the game if you are planning to make the trip to Atlanta or follow the team from here in Missouri.  They are estimating 800-1,000 fans will be making the trek south to cheer on the Panthers.

*WHEN: Tipoff is at 3 p.m. (CST) Sunday (April 7) at Philips Arena (18,238 capacity) in Atlanta, Ga., home of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks.

*WHO: The nationally seventh-ranked Drury Panthers (30-4), riding a school-record, 22-game winning streak, will take on Metropolitan State (32-2) out of Denver, which was ranked third in the final NABC Top 25 Coaches Poll.

*HOW THEY GOT HERE: Drury defeated 20th-ranked South Carolina-Aiken 84-75 and No. 3 Western Washington 107-97 in the Elite Eight in Louisville, Ky., over the weekend; Metro State defeated Franklin Pierce 78-65 and top-ranked West Liberty 83-76. Of note, Metro State defeated St. Mary’s (Texas) 78-70 in the South Central Regional title game; St. Mary’s is one of four teams to defeat the Panthers this season, handing DU an 82-73 loss in Las Vegas on Dec. 19.

*HISTORY: Drury is in the NCAA-II post-season for the eighth time, and sixth time in nine years under coach Steve Hesser; Metro State’s Roadrunners are making their 17th post-season tourney appearance, and won national championships in 2000 and 2002.

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The Drury team bus heads to the team hotel in Atlanta, led by a police escort (photo from Twitter @drurypanthers)

The Drury University men’s basketball team arrived in Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon ahead of Sunday’s Division II national championship game with Metro State. The Panthers have advanced to the NCAA tournament in six of Steve Hesser’s nine years as their coach, but this is the first time the school is playing for the championship.

Prior to departing from Springfield, I had the opportunity to talk with Coach Hesser before they boarded the plane. He seemed relaxed and stated that he wants his team to enjoy the experience, but realize when it comes game time, remember they have a job to do.

If you do not live in the Springfield area, you may be unfamiliar with the Drury program, but the campus and city have rallied behind their team. Classes are being cancelled, professors are making the trip to Atlanta as well as scores of other fans to show support.

The Panthers will play Metro State out of the Denver area. The game will tip off at 3 p.m. CT from Phillips Arena in downtown Atlanta, site of this year’s Division I Final Four.

AUDIO Listen to Missourinet’s exclusive interview with Steve Hesser (8:00)

Drury University has suspended it’s women’s basketball coach for one game. Steve Harold will not coach Thursday against Maryville in St. Louis. All the school would say in a press release was that the suspension stems from “conduct detrimental to the university and athletics program.”

After a loss on Saturday, Harold cursed to reporters and said talking to this team was like talking to people with no ears. Drury has made 10 straight NCAA D-II tournament appearances.

According to the Springfield News-Leader, Harold dropped several curse words in his postgame press conference, saying, “I’m so frustrated. I don’t know what to do. It’s like talking to a group with no ears.” At another point, he was quoted as saying, “This team needs to figure their (bleep) out.”