Deywilk Tavarez scored seven points in the final 18 seconds, including the winning 3-pointer at the buzzer, and Loyola outlasted Cleveland State 91-88 in a thrilling season opener on Monday night at Gentile Arena.

The dramatic win was the Ramblers’ first game since the death of Sister Jean, their longtime chaplain who drew national attention for her devotion to the team during their Final Four run in 2018. Sister Jean died on Oct. 9. She was 106.

The Ramblers are wearing a uniform patch in her honor this season.

Tavarez, a transfer from College of Charleston, hit a 3-pointer and a free throw with 18 seconds left, giving the Ramblers an 88-86 lead. Dayan Nessah tied it with a layup for Cleveland State with 10 seconds left.

Loyola’s Kayde Dotson missed a 3-pointer, but the Ramblers got the rebound and called a timeout with 2 seconds remaining. When play resumed, Tavarez took an inbound pass in front of the Ramblers bench and buried a 3-pointer for the win.

Tavarez, Dotson and Miles Rubin all scored 16 points for Loyola. Chuck Love III had 14 points and Joshua Ola-Joseph added 11.

Nessah scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Cleveland State. Josiah Harris scored 20 points, Tre Beard 13 and Kamari Jones 12.

Northwestern 70, Mercyhurst 47

Arrinten Page scored 18 points and Nick Martinelli added 17 points to lift Northwestern to a 70-47 rout over Mercyhurst on Monday in a season-opening matchup in Evanston.

Page also grabbed 12 rebounds and added six assists in his debut for the Wildcats after stops at USC and Cincinnati. He is one of eight newcomers for Northwestern, their most since the 2019-20 season.

K.J. Windham added 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting (3-for-5 from 3-point range) off the bench as the only other player in double figures for Northwestern.

The Wildcats took a 36-25 lead into the half, and a 15-4 run to open the second half set the tempo for the rest of the game as they cruised to a comfortable win. They led for all but the first 17 seconds of game time.

Northwestern was a shaky 19-of-52 from the field and just 5-of-19 from 3-point range, but held Mercyhurst to 18-of-60 and 1-of-18 marks. They also out-rebounded the Lakers 49-32.

Jake Lemelman led the Lakers with 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Mykolaus Ivanauskas hauled in eight rebounds.

DePaul 92, Chicago State 62

NJ Benson posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds as part of DePaul’s 92-62 win over Chicago State on Monday at Wintrust Arena to open the season for each team.

Layden Blocker also had 16 points, including 5 of 5 from the foul line. CJ Gunn had 12 points while Brandon Maclin was credited with six assists. The Blue Demons got 12 points and five rebounds off the bench from Théo Pierre-Justin.

The Cougars were led by Marcus Tankersley, who had 16 points, including shooting 4 for 4 from the free-throw line, and nine rebounds.

The Blue Demons had a 46-21 advantage at the half. The Cougars stepped up to score 41 points in the second half, but they couldn’t stop DePaul’s offense.

UIC 91, Detroit Mercy 71

Ahmad Henderson II’s 23 points helped UIC defeat Detroit Mercy 91-71 in a season opener on Monday at Credit Union 1 Arena.

Henderson shot 7 of 12 from the field, including 5 for 8 from 3-point range, and went 4 for 4 from the foul line for the Flames. Rashund Washington Jr. pitched in with 13 points, six rebounds and five assists. Elijah Crawford scored 13.

Ayden Carter led the Titans with 18 points. Keshawn Fisher had 12 points and Orlando Lovejoy scored 11.

The Associated Press created portions of this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/03/college-basketball-loyola-northwestern-depaul/