QUINCY, Ill. – The Quincy University men's basketball team played their final home game of the 2019-2020 season and went out in exhilarating fashion on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 22). The Hawks defeated the Drury Panthers 75-74, as Viktor Kovacevic scored in the paint with two seconds left to seal the Senior Day victory. 

How It Happened
Quincy looked to slow a streaking Drury team that came into today's contest riding a seven-game win streak. The Hawks grabbed an early advantage when a 7-0 run gave QU a 13-8 lead with 14:50 left in the opening half. Tanner Stuckman, Charles Callier, and Ryan Briscoe each had baskets over this span. 

The Panthers cut the score to 16-14, but Quincy responded by mounting another 7-0 run to pull ahead. Charles Callier hit a three, and Adam Moore as well as Viktor Kovacevic scored from inside the arc to make the score 23-14 QU with 9:13 left in the first half. 

Drury once again responded by roaring back. Eight straight points by the Panthers cut Quincy's lead to just one point as the score moved to 23-22. 

Tanner Stuckman stopped the run briefly with a three-pointer to make it 26-22, but DU rattled off six straight points to grab the lead, 28-26. Two minutes remained in the first half. 

Charles Callier caught fire to end the first half for the Hawks as he scored QU's final seven points before halftime. This scoring burst allowed Quincy to take a 33-30 lead into the locker room. 

Drury came right out and tied the game with a three immediately after halftime. Charles Callier answered with a bucket as his scoring streak moved to nine in-a-row. 

After the first five minutes had passed in the second half, the two teams were all tied up 42-42. 

Following the tie, Drury looked to deliver a knockout blow when they went on a 10-0 run in just two minutes. DU went ahead 52-42 with 13:25 left to play. 

The Panthers lead grew to twelve points as late as 6:57 left in the game when the score moved to 69-57.

At this point in the game, things changed. Quincy showed resiliency and mounted a heroic comeback. 

The Hawks outscored Drury 18-5 in the final six minutes of the game with five different players contributing buckets down the stretch. 

Drury hit a seemingly crushing three-pointer with 1:56 left to make it a 74-69 game, but the Hawks showed no quit. 

Senior Aziz Fadika muscled his way to the basket to make it a three-point deficit with a minute and a half to play. 

In clutch time, junior transfer Viktor Kovacevic had nothing but ice in his veins as he sunk two key free throws with 46 seconds left to make the score 74-73 DU. 

On the defensive end, Quincy was able to make Drury force a three-pointer up with 17 seconds left. Kovacevic corralled the rebound, and Quincy took their final timeout after bringing the ball onto their side of half court. Only eight seconds remained in the game. 

Head Coach Ryan Hellenthal and his staff drew up one final play for the Hawks as they broke the team huddle. Out of the timeout, Ryan Briscoe caught the inbounds and fired it over to Kovacevic. The Serbian dribbled past Briscoe who set a brief screen for the forward. Kovacevic spun past his defender in the lane, and shot an off-balance look in the lane. 

For the second time this year, Viktor Kovacevic came through for QU as his shot spun in with two seconds left to give Quincy a 75-74 lead. 

Drury had one last shot from half court, but it did not fall as the Hawks got a huge come-from-behind victory on Senior Day. 

Tanner Stuckman led QU in scoring with 23 on the day. Charles Callier was right behind him with 21 points, and Kovacevic tallied 15 points with eight rebounds. 

Next Game
Men's basketball ends the season on a two-game road stint that starts off at Missouri S&T on Thursday, February 27th at 7:30 p.m.