NJ Benson was sent to the free-throw line with three seconds left in overtime after a back-and-forth between Loyola Chicago and DePaul. The score: 90-90. 

Benson knocked down both free throws to put the Blue Demons up two and finished the game with 12 points. The Ramblers called a timeout, and Deywilk Tavárez threw the ball down the court, and it was stolen by DePaul’s Jeremy Lorenz, who passed it to RJ Smith. 

DePaul took the 92-90 victory over the Ramblers in a game that featured the Blue Demons only leading for 8:51. 

Brandon Maclin, Layden Blocker, CJ Gunn, Kaleb Banks and Benson started the game for the Blue Demons.

Gunn started strong in the first half by scoring the Blue Demons’ first eight points. He completed the first half with 11 of the team’s 37 points and three of their six 3-pointers. 

“He had a great first half, great start to the game,” Banks said. “He was in great rhythm. So it depended on him a lot in the first half.”

Gunn only scored two more points in the second half to end the game with 13 points before fouling out with 11:04 remaining.

To start the second half, the Ramblers went on a 9-0 run. 

“I thought the opening of the second half was awful for us,” head coach Chris Holtmann said. “I didn’t think our guys played smart. I didn’t think they played with much life.”

But Blocker, Smith and Banks all scored in double figures in the second half and combined for 32 points. 

Banks scored eight straight points for the Blue Demons in the second half to allow Loyola Chicago to only extend their lead to 11. He ended with 14 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. 

Smith scored 11 points in the half, knocking down two 3-pointers, to help Benson and Blocker cut the lead to six. 

“I just wanted to do what I can for my team to win,” Smith said.

Smith led the Blue Demons with 18 points and finished 3-for-5 from outside the arc. He also had two assists, two steals, two rebounds and a block.

“I thought he made good decisions, and obviously made shots, and played with confidence,” Holtmann said.

Blocker then scored seven points in the final 29 seconds of regulation to even the score at 81 — sending the game into overtime.

“I thought the thing he did terrific was, down the stretch, was attack the rim,” Holtmann said. 

Holtmann said Blocker led the team in the last four minutes and noted how phenomenal it was.

Blocker fouled out of the game with 2:36 remaining in overtime. He ended the game with 16 points, five assists and four steals. 

Benson knocked down the two free throws to win the game. Holtmann said his players “played with poise down the stretch.”

“You just got to stay in the moment, stay focused on the next possession, they did that,” Holtmann said. “They did a really good job of that.”

Smith said their poise worked well for the team in the second half. 

“We played with the edge,” Smith said. “We kept coming back, being gritty.”

Banks said the team never thought they were going to lose. 

“A lot of teams don’t win that game,” Banks said. “A lot of teams probably quit. We just stayed in the fight. We stayed the course. We didn’t flinch at all.”

Holtmann commented on Maclin’s spirit and said it’s “a beautiful thing to coach.” Maclin finished with five points, five assists, two rebounds and a block.

Some of Holtmann’s biggest takeaways were that the team needs to guard the ball better, move the ball better on offense, improve their transition defense and limit their fouls. 

“I think you can take a lot from the play,” Holtmann said. “I don’t know if you can take much from the score and the result.”

He also said that the atmosphere at Wintrust was great.

“Credit to our fans, big, big credit to our students,” Holtmann said. “Boy, they were phenomenal. It was a packed student crowd.”

The Blue Demons faced off against Notre Dame for their second and final exhibition game on Oct. 24 and won 69-62. Their next game is the start of their regular season — and the start of their non-conference schedule — on Nov. 3 against Chicago State at 7 p.m. 

Related stories:

• Holtmann’s second year with DPU men’s basketball
• Benson, Blocker and Gunn: “a brotherhood”
• A look into DePaul women’s basketball charge club