Box Score      NEW ORLEANS — Robert Jones scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half Thursday to lead Mobile to a 64-54 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball victory over NAIA No. 16 Xavier University of Louisiana at The Barn.
     The Rams (10-5 overall, 5-0 GCAC) earned their sixth consecutive victory and remained in a first-place tie with LSU-Shreveport, a 90-52 winner at Spring Hill. Mobile will host LSUS at 4 p.m. Saturday.
     Derrell Moreaux scored 14 points, Marcus Yeager 11 and Steve Pellan 10 for Mobile.
     Mark Stewart scored 13 points, and Alfred Williams had 11 points and nine rebounds for Xavier (13-4, 3-2), which lost for the first time at home this season after nine victories.
     Mobile never trailed — there were ties at 15 and 17 — and led for 38 of 40 minutes. The Rams led 36-25 at halftime, increased the lead to 47-33 with 13 minutes to play, then withstood a Gold Rush rally which reduced the margin to 51-48 with six minutes remaining.
     Mobile, a winner in four of its past five trips to The Barn, outshot Xavier 47 to 35 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Rush 38-28. Jones led the Rams with nine rebounds, and Pellan grabbed eight.
     Xavier's next game will start at 7 p.m. Saturday at The Barn against GCAC opponent William Carey.