Box Score  

   NEW ORLEANS — Shaun Dumas had 14 points, 10 assists, four steals and a career-best seven rebounds Monday to lead Xavier to a 68-53 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball victory against NAIA No. 18 SUNO at The Barn.
     The victory kept Xavier (17-7 overall, 10-4 GCAC) atop the conference standings.
     For the first time in 20 years, Xavier has 10 consecutive conference victories. It's the 12th time that the Gold Rush has produced a winning streak of 10 or more games in one season — the second time in the last 19 seasons. It's also the first since 2000-01 that Xavier recorded four consecutive double-digit victories in the GCAC.
     Dumas recorded his fourth point-assist double-double of the winning streak. He leads the GCAC in steals and assists per game and ranks second and fourth, respectively, in NAIA Division I.
     Mark Stewart scored 16 points and Olumide Olafioye 11 for the Gold Rush, which led 32-27 at halftime after outscoring SUNO 15-0 in the first five minutes.
     SUNO scored the second half's first basket to cut the margin to 32-29, but the Knights (11-10, 9-6) got no closer. Xavier held a double-digit for the final 4:45 and limited SUNO to its third-fewest points in this 81-game series and its feswest since the 1992-93 season.
     Marcus Scott scored 19 points and Kevin Thomas 16 for SUNO and James Hudson grabbed 15 rebounds. Xavier limited Willie Chaney, who entered the game with an NAIA Division I-leading .578 3-point field-goal percentage, to 1-of-6 from behind the arc.
     Xavier outshot SUNO 42 to 35 percent from the floor.
     Xavier's next game will start at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at second-place LSU-Shreveport — the first of four consecutive road games to close the regular season. The Rush needs one victory in its final four games to clinch a first-round bye in the GCAC Tournament, which will begin Feb. 27.