Drury upsets Bellarmine for GLVC Men’s Basketball Tournament Title

ST. CHARLES, Mo. —  The Drury Panthers beat the Bellarmine Knights 77-70 to win the 2015 GLVC Men’s Basketball Tournament. Tournament MVP Kameron Bundy scored the last nine Drury points and 27 in total to lead the Panthers past top-seeded Bellarmine.

Bellarmine had the deficit to just three points twice in the final 20 seconds, but each time Bundy made clutch plays to keep his team in front. With 19 seconds left, Bundy threw in a deep 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down. After a Bellarmine trey to make it just a one possession game, Bundy got fouled and went to the line and made both free throws. A steal and easy layup as time expired put the exclamation point on the championship for Bundy and the Panthers.

Drury’s other All-Tournament Team selection Ben Fisher scored 15 of his 18 points and did not miss a shot in the second half to spark the comeback. For the game, he was 5-of-6 from 3-point range. Fisher also had the assist on the Drew Thompson 3-pointer that put Drury up for good.

The rim didn’t just look the size of Saturn’s rings to Fisher and Bundy. As a team, Drury shot a staggering 60.9 percent from the field, 61.1 percent from 3-point range and 90.9 percent from the free throw line.

Bellarmine had a shooting night that almost any other day would have been plenty good enough to win. They finished 57.9 percent from the field including 6-of-13 from 3-point range. The Knights were led by Jake Thelen inside, who scored a game-high 28 points, and on the outside by Chris Whitehead with 16 points and 9 assists. Both were selected for the All-Tournament team.

Bellarmine took a 35-29 lead into halftime. Both teams shot over 50 percent, but how they got there was dramatically different. The Knights outscored Drury 22-6 in the paint with their Conference Player of the Year, Thelen, scoring 15 points in the first 20 minutes. They also led 10-0 in fast break points in the first half. On the outside Whiteside was well on his way to a double-double with 10 points and 7 assists.

Drury meanwhile jumped on the back of their own star, Kameron Bundy, to keep them in it. The junior guard scored 16 points in the first half posted a usage rate of 42.6 percent. They shot 5-of-8 from 3-point range as a team playing catch-up most of the half after losing their lead at their last lead at the 17:06 mark and falling behind by as many as 9 points.

In the second half, along with the continued shooting barrage from the outside Drury balanced their offense with better play inside. They actually beat the Knights in points in the paint 20-14 after halftime. They further shutdown Bellarmine’s easy looks by preventing them from scoring any more fastbreak points.

This year’s GLVC tournament win is a bit of a redemption story for Drury. In last year’s tournament they were the number-one seed, but didn’t even make it to the weekend due to a one-point quarterfinals loss to Maryville.

After the game, before the the championship trophy presentation, the GLVC All-Tournament team was named. Along with the previously mentioned, Bundy, Fisher, Thelen and Whitehead, Wisconsin-Parkside’s Jimmy Gavin was selected. Parkside was eliminated yesterday in the semifinals after a 68-67 overtime loss to Drury.

Drury now turns their sights to the NCAA Division II Tournament, for which they earned an automatic bid with the win. Bellarmine, who was ranked number two in the nation in the last poll, will almost certainly be joining them. The top 8 teams from each region are taken into the field of 64 teams. Bellarmine, Parkside, and fellow GLVC members Indianapolis and Lewis were all ranked inside the top 8 in the last rankings. The final selections will be announced tonight and the tournament begins March 14.