DePaul junior guard Billy Garrett Jr. produced 22 points and seven assists to lift DePaul to an 82-78 victory over Norfolk State on Monday afternoon during the Paradise Jam seventh-place game at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.

Junior center Thomas Hamilton IV added 20 points on 8-of-8 shooting off the bench as the Blue Demons (2-3) survived a late rally by Norfolk State (1-4) to snap a three-game losing streak.

Senior guard D'Shon Taylor paced the Spartans with 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Norfolk State trailed 62-48 with 10:51 to play, but Taylor drilled two 3-pointers as part of the Spartans' five 3-pointers over 3 minutes, 55 seconds to pull into a 66-66 tie.

Taylor and senior guards Charles Oliver (20 points) and Jeff Short (16 points) combined to shoot 10 of 14 on 3-pointers during the second half. Norfolk State canned 14 of 28 for the game.

Hamilton and Garrett answered by hitting six free throws in a row, but Norfolk State kept hitting from deep. Oliver drained his sixth 3-pointer of the night to forge a 74-74 tie and senior guard Jeff Short canned 2 free throws with 2:22 left to give the Spartans their only lead of the second half.

Hamilton and Garrett had the answers again as Hamilton meshed two free throws and Garrett clicked on the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:09 to play. They combined for 13 straight DePaul points down the stretch.

DePaul edged its lead to 80-78 on senior guard Aaron Simpson's free throw with 17 seconds left, then Norfolk State junior 7-footer Dan Robinson had his game-tying layup swatted by 6-6 senior Myke Henry with 0:04 on the clock.

After a Spartans foul, Simpson netted two free throws to halt the upset bid.