Box Score NEW ORLEANS —
Ryan DeRousselle banked in a 3-pointer
at the buzzer Monday to give Xavier University of Louisiana a 54-52 Gulf
Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball victory over Belhaven.
DeRousselle scored from 25 feet after Nathaniel Roché
scored with 2.9 seconds remaining to give Belhaven a 52-51 advantage. There were
four lead changes in the final minute.
Shaun Dumas scored 15 points for Xavier (16-8 overall,
8-4 GCAC) and passed to DeRousselle for the winning points.
Kelechi Okoroha added
14 points for the Gold Rush and had a season-high five assists.
Roché, Belhaven's only double-figure scorer, scored
13 of his 19 points in the second half.
Xavier led 10-0 through six minutes before the
Blazers rallied for a 23-21 advantage at halftime.
Belhaven outshot Xavier 45 to 39 percent from the
floor and outrebounded the Gold Rush 31-22. But Xavier committed 13 turnovers
and gained 22.
Xavier swept both regular-season meetings against Belhaven
and leads the series 42-10, including 27 victories in 28 meetings at The Barn.
The Rush remained one game off the lead in the conference
but moved into a tie for second place with Loyola and LSU-Shreveport. Loyola,
which began the day tied for first with Tougaloo, lost 62-58 at Spring Hill.
Tougaloo won 69-50 at William Carey to improve to 9-3 in the conference,
and LSUS won 84-66 at Dillard.