Loyola Ends DePaul’s Streak

The Loyola Ramblers earned their first Red line Rivalry victory over DePaul since 1989 with a 69-61 win at Allstate Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Loyola (9-3) ended DePaul’s (9-4) seven game winning streak led by 24 points from former Schaumburg star Cully Payne.

“He hit some big shots down the stretch for them,” DePaul coach Oliver Purnell said of Payne’s performance. “He played a whale of a game. He was a key to most everything they did.”

While DePaul held Loyola star Ben Averkamp to nine points, it was Payne who ruled the day for the Ramblers.

“I just feel like they just wanted it more,” said senior guard Worrel Clahar. “They got the loose balls. They dove on the ground. They wanted the offensive rebounds more than we wanted to block out. They came more prepared and were hungry.”

The Blue Demons shot a paltry 55% from the free throw line which didn’t help things this afternoon.

“We just couldn’t make free throws today,” said a very dejected Brandon Young. “It didn’t just come down to free throws. It was the defense too. We just didn’t come out ready to play today.”

The Blue Demons also gave up 33 points in the paint to the Ramblers.

“We weren’t mentally tough enough all night long to get ourselves in a situation to win the game,” said Purnell.

Three players reached double-figures for Loyola. Christian Thomas scored 12 points and freshman Devon Turk came off the bench to add 10 for the Ramblers.

Young led the Blue Demons with 18 points while Clahar came off the bench to add 10 points in the losing effort.

The Blue Demons begin Big East conference play on Wednesday night at Allstate Arena against the Seton Hall Pirates.

Box Score

Notes:

Team Records and Series Notes:

• DePaul drops to 9-4 overall on the season... Loyola’ s record improves to 9-3.

• The game was the 56th meeting between the two programs... DePaul leads the series by a 38-18 margin... today’s win for Loyola ends an 11-game winning streak in the series for the Blue Demons... Loyola’s last win over DePaul was a 70-69 decision on Jan. 21, 1989.

• DePaul is 105-37 all-time against the current lineup of Horizon League programs.

DePaul Team Notes:

• DePaul’s win streak ended at seven games... it is the longest streak since a nine-game run from Dec. 7, 1993-Jan. 8, 1994.

• DePaul’s streak of wins against Chicagoland opponents ended at nine in-a-row... DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell is 8-1 in his three seasons against local foes.

DePaul Individual Notes:

• Cleveland Melvin’s streak in double-figures ended at 26 straight games... he entered the game tied for third in nation with longest active streaks in double-figures... Melvin’s last game with less than 10 points was an eight-point game at Louisville on Jan. 14, 2012.

• With seven points, Melvin moved into 32nd on DePaul’s all-time scoring list.

• Brandon Young played in his 75th career game... he recorded his 56th career game in doubled-figures.