NEW ORLEANS — Kelechi Okoroha scored 21 of his career-high 28 points in the second half Saturday to lead Xavier University of Louisiana to a 77-65 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball victory over NAIA No. 23 LSU-Shreveport at The Barn.
     The Gold Rush (15-8 overall, 7-4 GCAC) snapped a two-game losing streak and knocked the Pilots (14-9, 7-4) out of a three-way tie for first place in the conference.
     Okoroha also grabbed nine rebounds. Shaun Dumas added 18 points, Michael Harvey 14 and Ryan DeRousselle 10 for Xavier.
     Derrick Parker had 16 points and 10 rebounds for LSUS. Jared Stevenson scored 14, and Tyrone Hamilton had 10.
     The Rush led 27-24 at halftime and extended the lead by making 31-of-36 free throws in the second half. Xavier finished 37-of-47 from the line — Okoroha was 16-of-19 — and the Pilots were 7-of-18.
     A Dumas field goal at 3:47 of the first half put the Rush ahead to stay at 23-21. It was 45-43 with 10 minutes remaining, then Okoroha scored eight points in a 14-5 run during the next 5½ minutes to enable the Rush to pull away.