Throughout the 2018-19 academic year, the Great Lakes Valley Conference will celebrate its 40th anniversary by recognizing 40 teams that made a significant impact both on campus and at the Conference level. Our next featured team is the 2013 Drury men’s basketball squad.
40 TEAMS | 40 YEARS
WEEK 26: 2013 Drury Men’s Basketball
SEASON SUMMARY
The 2012-13 Drury men’s basketball team capped its memorable season with a school-record 23-game winning streak, which ended with the Panthers earning their first-ever NCAA Division II Championship. Drury closed the season 31-4 overall after a 74-73 victory over Metropolitan State at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The Panthers rallied from 17 points behind in the first half in the national title game and proceeded to hold Metro State scoreless in the final 3:50 of regulation to win by one. The amazing comeback was led by senior Alex Hall, who finished with 21 points en route to the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player honor. His effort followed a season-high 35-point performance in the national semifinals, which saw Drury defeat defending national champion Western Washington 107-97 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. The victory was extra sweet for Drury as it avenged a 72-69 loss to Western Washington on Dec. 18 in Las Vegas. Prior to the Panthers getting to the NCAA DII Elite Eight, which opened with an 84-75 victory over South Carolina-Aiken, they rolled through the NCAA Midwest Regional on their home floor at the O’Reilly Family Event Center with wins over Findlay (89-77), Michigan Tech (76-62) and Bellarmine (67-61). In the regional final against the Knights, Drury senior guard Brandon Lockhart scored 21 points, added eight assists and five steals and played all 40 minutes en route to the tourney's Most Outstanding Player award. Drury secured hosting rights of the regional following a GLVC Championship win over Southern Indiana at the Ford Center in Evansville. The top-seeded Panthers, who entered the postseason following a 16-2 mark in GLVC action and their fifth GLVC West Division crown in eight years, defeated the Screaming Eagles, 71-65. Hall netted seven 3-pointers and totaled 34 points, giving him a GLVC Tournament-record 79 points for three games and the tourney’s Most Valuable Player accolade as well.
IMPRESSIVE INDIVIDUALS
Alex Hall
- NCAA Championship MOP (2013)
- GLVC Tournament MVP (2013)
- NABC All-America (2013)
- Daktronics All-America Third Team (2013)
- Daktronics Midwest Region Player of the Year (2013)
- Daktronics All-America First Team (2013)
- GLVC All-Tournament (2013)
- All-GLVC First Team (2012, 2013)
- All-GLVC Second Team (2011)
- Finished as the Panthers’ No. 3 all-time career scorer (2,200 points)
- Holds programs records for three-pointers in a game (9), a season (125) and a career (389).
- No. 33 jersey retired by school
Brandon Lockhart
- NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team (2013)
- NCAA Midwest Regional MVP (2013)
- Daktronics All-America Second Team (2013)
- GLVC All-Tournament (2013)
- All-GLVC First Team (2013)
- All-GLVC Second Team (2012)
- Finished as the Panthers’ No. 21 all-time career scorer (1,255 points)
- Holds programs record for steals (267) and is fourth all-time in assists (547)
- No. 21 jersey retired by school
Steve Hesser
- NABC National Coach of the Year (2013)
- Compiled a career record of 323-126 during 15 seasons at Drury
- His .719 winning percentage ranks eighth among NCAA DII active coaches that have coached at least 10 years.
LASTING LEGACY
The 2012-13 Drury men’s basketball program secured its first NCAA Championship in any sport in school history, while giving the GLVC its seventh national title in men’s basketball, and second in three years as Bellarmine captured the 2010-11 crown. The Panthers’ milestone victory came on arguably the grandest stage in NCAA DII Championship history as the national title game was moved to Atlanta, Georgia and paired with the NCAA DIII Championship final as part of the NCAA DI Final Four for the first time ever. The Panthers received unprecedented national recognition as part of the festivities surrounding the Final Four, sticking around a day after their win to be honored during a second-half timeout as the newly-crowned champions before a packed Georgia Dome at the DI national final between Michigan and Louisville. With admission free to the DII and DIII national title games in Atlanta, 7,763 fans attended the final in Phillips Arena – the largest crowd to see a Division II championship game since 1971. Following the season, seniors Alex Hall (No. 33) and Brandon Lockhart (No. 21) had their numbers retired at Drury, while the program received an invitation from Duke University to open the 2013-14 season with an exhibition contest against the Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium.