Box Score      NEW ORLEANS — Shaun Dumas had season highs of 15 points and seven steals Monday to lead Xavier University of Louisiana to a 78-67 men's basketball victory against Albany State at The Barn.
     Cornelius Kennedy and Olumide Olafioye added 13 points apiece for the Gold Rush (5-0), ranked 10th in the NAIA Division I coaches poll. Mark Stewart scored 11, and Jarrel Lake had 10.
     Scheraun King scored 26 points and James Clark 12 for Albany State in its season opener.
     Xavier, winning for the 20th time in 23 games, scored the first eight points. But the Rams, who reached the NCAA Division II Tournament last season, scored the next 11 points — six by King and five by Sean Glenn — to take their biggest lead of the game.
     The Gold Rush responded with a 17-5 run, including nine points from Olafioye and five from Dumas, and never lost the lead again. Xavier led 30-26 at halftime and took its biggest lead, 77-59, on Michael Harvey's basket with 1:44 remaining. Xavier had a double-digit lead the final 12 1/2 minutes.
     Xavier outshot the Rams 47 to 39 percent from the floor and outrebounded them 38-32. Both teams committed 20 turnovers.
     The Rush's Alfred Williams grabbed 10 rebounds to match his season high. Lake had nine rebounds and Kennedy eight. Kennedy had season highs in points and rebounds.
     The Rams' Glenn left the game during the 15th minute because of a leg injury and did not return.
     This is the third time in five seasons that Xavier started 5-0 and the first time since 2003-04.
     Xavier's next game will start at 5:30 p.m. Friday against Texas College in the Wiley Classic at Marshall, Texas. It will be Xavier's first road game of the regular season. Albany State's next game will start at 7:30 p.m. EST next Monday at Georgia Southwestern.