Loyola’s three point shooting helped pace the Ramblers to a 39-36 win in a big Catholic League matchup over DePaul prep Friday night in Wilmette.

Senior captains Oliver Bishop and Alex Engro came out of the gate hot. They both made a three in the span of one minute helping the Ramblers lead 6-0 and forcing DePaul’s Coach Kleinschmidit to call a timeout.

“It was extremely important to get to a 6-0 start because it totally set the tone for the rest of the game. We needed to get out to a good start and we did,” Engro said.

DePaul came out of the timeout and quickly cut the lead with the help of junior PJ Chambers and senior Maurice Thomas.

Loyola’s junior Miles Boland answered back with a three pointer to help continue the Ramblers’ hot start.

Not long after, DePaul’s talented sophomores Makai Kvamme and Jonas Johnson each answered with a three of their own to cut the Ramblers’ lead down.

Junior Andrew Hollerrich, who has been playing phenomenal for the Ramblers in the last few games, quickly joined the scoring column in the last two minutes of the quarter scoring a three followed by a breakaway layup to help extend the Ramblers’ lead.

DePaul held the ball the last minute hoping for the last shot of the first half, but sophomore Ryan Fitzgerald missed the three at the buzzer which resulted in the score of the game remaining at 17-11.

“That was a big first quarter for us. We wanted to bring a lot of energy from the tip, and we came out and played well. It gave us a big boost for the rest of the game. It gave us some early confidence too as we were knocking down shots. It helped us play more aggressively for the rest of the game,” Boland said.

The Rams came out in the second quarter and scored four quick points in the opening minute from Chambers and Kvamme.

Andrew Hollerricquickly answered by scoring his second three of the game to help push the Ramblers’ lead to four.

Junior big man Jaylen McElory, who the Rams recently got back from injury, quickly joined the scoring column with a strong take to the basket off a rebound from a missed basket from Kvamme.

The Rams continued their scoring on the next possession when Thomas drained a deep three to cut the Ramblers’ lead to one with two minutes remaining in the second quarter.

DePaul changed it up on defense going into a zone to disrupt the Ramblers offense.

Coach Livatino called a timeout and drew up a play which resulted in a layup score from Boland to close out the half.

DePaul came out of the half scoring five quick points and held the Ramblers to only two to tie the game at 24 apiece.

The Ramblers gained momentum back, closing out the quarter on a 5-0 run with the help of a three pointer from Hollerrich and crafty layup by Boland.

The beginning of the fourth quarter went back and forth between both teams.

That was until Engro helped push the Ramblers’ lead to 5 points with a big three and with 3:15 left in the game.

The Rams brought the game back within three with the help of a three from Kvamme who led the Rams in scoring with 12 points.

Thomas had a chance to tie the game in the final possession of the game, but Thomas missed a heavily contested three giving the 24th ranked Ramblers a 39-36 Catholic League win.

“I think the most important part of that win, besides the fact that we beat a good team, is the fact that we are still alive in the hunt for the Chicago Catholic League championship,” Ramblers coach Matt Slattery said.