Box score (.pdf)
Box score (.html)

DETROIT--  Junior Chase Simon scored a season-high 28 points as hots Detroit downed Loyola, 81-71 at Calihan Hall Saturday afternoon in Horizon League play.  Simon registered his second straight 20-point effort with his performance pushing the Titans above .500 and within just a game of fourth place in the bunched-up conference standings.

Coming into the wek, the Titans had dropped five of their last six contests and fell to seventh in the standings.  After Thursday's complete team effort in a win over UIC and Saturday's equally uplifting win vs. Loyola, Detroit has inserted itself squarely back into the conversation for a high seed as the tournament draws near.

Detroit (13-12, 7-6 HL) took the momentum from Thursday's victory and ran out to an 8-1 lead in the opening moments of the ball game.  Loyola (13-11, 4-9) came back to tie the score and even had a few leads in the second half, but Saturday belonged to the home team.  

Two days after registering a season-high-tying 18 assists, the Titans continued the trend of sharing the basketball by etching 16 helpers on 27 field goals.  While Simon's 28 points was the impressive stat, four Detroit players had at least 10 points and four different Titans grabbed at loeast a half-dozen rebounds in the win.

Detroit went into halftime with a 41-37 lead by outshooting the Ramblers 55.2 percent to 40.7 percent.  After Simon started the second-half scoring with a three, LU scored eight straight points to briefly take the lead.  With Detroit clinging to a one-point advantage at 53-52, Chris Blake buried a deep three, then Simon drove the lane and was fouled as UDM reasserted control.

Another spurt later gave the Titans an 11-point cushion, punctuated by a Simon triple from in front of his bench that forced a timeout.  Ray McCallum added a tip-in for a 13-point lead but Loyola came roaring back.  Eight points in the next 1:12 had the visitors back within five but the Titans made 11-of-15 free throws in the final four minutes to ice it.

Simon finished the night 9-for-17 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from deep.  he added 7-of-8 makes from the free throw line and six rebounds along with three assists.  LaMarcus Lowe, making his second straight start, chipped-in 10 points and nine rebounds.  McCallum had 10 poiints, six assists and four rebounds while Eli Holman scored 10 to go along with seven rebounds.

Andy Polka led the Ramblers with 18 points off the bench.

Detroit wraps-up its homestand with its third game in five days Monday.  The Titans could really improve their standing as they host first-place Cleveland State in a 7:00 p.m. tip.