SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Top seed and defending national champion Drury ended Lake Superior State's storybook men's basketball season with a 79-61 victory Sunday night during the semifinal round of the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament.

Throughout the season Drury (ranked eighth nationally) led the Great Lakes Valley Conference in scoring defense, allowing only 67.8 points per game. The Panthers (27-3), playing in front of a home crowd of more than 1,800 fans, lived up to their defensive-minded billing and held the Lakers (27-6) to their season scoring low.

Drury plays host to Michigan Tech in Tuesday's regional championship game. MTU advanced following a 82-76 semifinal victory over Indianapolis.

Drury made five of its first seven field-goal attempts while LSSU went without a field goal until 13:37 of the first half. The Panthers took off to a 16-3 lead and was ahead 38-28 at halftime despite the Lakers closing the gap to three points inside the five-minute mark. They out-scored the Lakers 13-4 in points off turnovers during the opening half.

Lake Superior State (ranked 25th nationally and the region's No. 5 seed) cut the lead to seven points early in the second half, but Drury extended it to 16 points following an 11-2 run that ended with back-to-back three-pointers by Drake Patterson. The Panthers controlled the final 10 minutes of the game.

Kameron Bundy scored 17 points and Cameron Adams added 16 to lead Drury. The Panthers shot 50 percent from the field during both halves and made 4-of-16 three-point attempts. They were 19-of-28 at the free-throw line. Drury also forced a season-high 21 LSSU turnovers.

Cameron Metz totaled 22 points and six rebounds to lead Lake Superior State. Derek Billing followed with 14 points and four rebounds, and Alex Williams added nine points. LSSU shot 45.7 percent from the field and made 4-of-15 three-point attempts. The Lakers were 15-of-24 at the free-throw line and out-rebounded Drury, 32-30.

LSSU capped the 2013-14 season with a school record tying 27 wins.

The GLVC has won two of the last three NCAA II titles.

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