Box Score NEW ORLEANS —
Shaun Dumas scored a career-high 30 points Monday, and Xavier University of Louisiana shot a school-record 75.9 percent from the floor in a 92-78 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball victory against Tougaloo at The Barn.
The victory was the seventh in a row for the Gold Rush (14-7 overall, 7-4 GCAC), which took over first place in the league with the help of losses by 20th-ranked SUNO and LSU-Shreveport. Xavier, 0-4 and in last place in the GCAC 25 days earlier, leads the league by percentage points over William Carey and SUNO, both 8-5. Four other teams have five losses.
Dumas, who scored 19 second-half points, also had 12 assists and eight steals. Dumas is the first Gold Rush player to score 30 points since Angelo Taylor had 31 in a 77-72 loss to Life on Dec. 7, 2001, at The Barn.
Xavier made 41 of 54 shots — including 15 in a row during an 11-minute stretch of the second half — to surpass the previous school record of 73.7 percent against Wiley on Jan. 15, 1972. The Gold Rush was 23 of 27 in the second half, led by Dumas' 9-of-10 shooting.
During a stretch of nearly 32 minutes — from
Dannie Woods' basket at 16:04 or the first half to Dumas' final basket with 1:19 remaining — the Gold Rush shot 81.3 percent (39 of 48). Dumas was 8 of 8 in the final 17 minutes.
The NAIA men's record for field-goal accuracy is 85.7 percent, set by Huntingdon against Troy in 1963.
Kelechi Okoroha had 19 points and six assists for Xavier.
Olumide Olafioye scored 16 points, and
Cornelius Kennedy and Woods had 10 apiece.
Darius Simmons scored 29 points for Tougaloo (9-11, 6-5), which has dropped three straight conference games and could've grabbed first place by beating Xavier. Keithdrick Harris scored 24, and Kevin McCoy had 13.
Xavier led 42-33 at halftime. Harris and Simmons combined for 14 points to cut the Rush's lead to 50-47 with 15 minutes remaining, but Xavier scored 19 of the next 22 points. Dumas' basket with 8:54 remaining gave Xavier its biggest lead, 77-54.
The Rush avenged a 78-59 loss at Tougaloo in its GCAC opener Jan. 4.
Xavier's next game will start at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at GCAC opponent Mobile.
Shots of confidence
Xavier shot 75.9 percent from the floor against Tougaloo to set a school record for field-goal accuracy. Here's the shot-by-shot breakdown. Shots made are marked with an "x", and shots missed are marked with an "o". Three-point attempts are marked with "(3)".
First Half
Time Shooter Result FG-FGA
19:45 Alfred Williams o 0-1
19:43 Alfred Williams x 1-2
18:30 Shaun Dumas o 1-3
17:24 Kelechi Okoroha o 1-4
16:04 Dannie Woods x 2-5
15:31 Mark Stewart x 3-6
15:01 Shaun Dumas x 4-7
14:24 Dannie Woods x 5-8
13:23 Shaun Dumas x 6-9
12:20 Olumide Olafioye x (3) 7-10
11:26 Mark Stewart o (3) 7-11
10:51 Cornelius Kennedy x 8-12
10:21 Olumide Olafioye x (3) 9-13
9:07 Cornelius Kennedy x 10-14
8:09 Dannie Woods x 11-15
7:26 Mark Stewart o (3) 11-16
6:25 Kelechi Okoroha x 12-17
6:00 Kelechi Okoroha x 13-18
5:19 Kelechi Okoroha x 14-19
4:45 Kelechi Okoroha x 15-20
4:10 Kelechi Okoroha x 16-21
3:29 Shaun Dumas x 17-22
2:23 Cornelius Kennedy o 17-23
2:00 Shaun Dumas x (3) 18-24
1:28 Shaun Dumas o 18-25
0:41 Dannie Woods o 18-26
0:10 Shaun Dumas o 18-27
Second Half
Time Shooter Result FG-FGA
19:54 Shaun Dumas x 19-28
17:52 Dannie Woods x 20-29
17:38 Shaun Dumas o 20-30
16:47 Shaun Dumas x 21-31
15:53 Kelechi Okoroha o 21-32
15:14 Olumide Olafioye x 22-33
14:41 Cornelius Kennedy x 23-34
14:07 Dannie Woods x 24-35
13:41 Olumide Olafioye x 25-36
12:57 Kelechi Okoroha x 26-37
12:20 Kelechi Okoroha x 27-38
12:00 Shaun Dumas x 28-39
11:46 Kelechi Okoroha x 29-40
10:29 Shaun Dumas x 30-41
9:47 Olumide Olafioye x 31-42
9:30 Shaun Dumas x 32-43
9:23 Kelechi Okoroha x 33-44
8:54 Shaun Dumas x 34-45
5:47 Aaron Burgess x 35-46
4:26 Olumide Olafioye x 36-47
3:50 Kelechi Okoroha o 36-48
3:29 Shaun Dumas x 37-49
3:01 Cornelius Kennedy x 38-50
2:14 Shaun Dumas x 39-51
1:19 Shaun Dumas x 40-52
0:56 Cornelius Kennedy o 40-53
0:54 Cornelius Kennedy x 41-54
