DETROIT -- Five Titans scored in double figures – led by senior Eli Holman's 20 points – as the Detroit men's basketball team advanced to the second round of the Horizon League Championship with an 80-71 victory over Loyola on Tuesday night at Calihan Hall.  Detroit will face Youngstown State in the quarterfinals Friday.

In a balanced attack, Detroit got double digits from five different players and made a concerted effort to get to the free throw line, knocking down 30-of-36 from the charity stripe.  Detroit also turned Loyola over 23 times to help keep a feisty Rambler squad at bay.

Senior Chase Simon had 19 and junior Doug Anderson had 18, while junior Jason Calliste and sophomore Ray McCallum each added 10 in the win.  But, it was Holman's inside presence that proved to be the difference.  The newly-minted HL Sixth Man of the Year made all six of his shots from the floor and went 8-12 from the line in his 27 minutes off-the-bench.

Loyola (7-23) hung tough, thanks in part to yeoman's effort from junior Ben Averkamp who scored 20 points and had eight rebounds.  Daniel Brito had 12 points with five assists and three steals while running the Rambler attack.  

LU didn't have the look of a 10th-seeded team, doing its part to dictate tempo in the first half.  In fact, Loyola led 16-14 midway through the first frame until Detroit embarked on a 12-0 run that helped give the Titans some distance.  UDM took a 34-23 lead into the break, but made just 33 percent of its shots in the opening 20 minutes.

In the second half, Loyola cut it to five on four different occasions, but each time Detroit had the answer to avoid any upset notions.  After Jordan Hicks hit a jumper to close it to 46-41 but Anderson countered with a jumper of his own and Holman added another as the precursor to a 10-2 spurt that put the margin back to 15.  

Loyola's resolve whittled the lead back down to five for the final time with five minutes remaining and a pair of McCallum free throws and an Anderson dunk reignited the Calihan crowd and ushered the home team into the win column.

The Titans advance to the quarterfinal round, held at top-seed Valparaiso Friday night.  Detroit will take on YSU, who won 77-60 in its first round game over seventh-seeded Green Bay. The winner of that game will face second-seeded Cleveland State on Saturday at Valpo.

Notes:  Detroit split the regular-season series with YSU with each road team winning ... Holman's 20 points was his second 20+ effort of the season (Dec. 8- 21 vs. Western Michigan) ... UDM defeated Loyola in the first round of last season's tournament as well (90-69) ... Tickets for Friday's quarterfinal and Saturday's semifinal can be obtained through the Titan ticket office at http://www.detroittitans.com/tix or 313-993-1700 ... A fan bus will be organized for the Friday game -- the bus will leave Calihan at noon Friday and will return some time Saturday.  $75 includes round trip charter to Valparaiso, Ind., game tickets to both men's basketball vs. YSU and Titan women's basketball Saturday vs. Valpo and if the men advance to Saturday's semifinal.  There are LIMITED spots available so act now by calling the number listed above or email GoTitans@udmercy.edu.