Box Score      NEW ORLEANS — Wanto Joseph, the reigning Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week, scored a career-high 26 points Tuesday to lead NAIA No. 19 Xavier University of Louisiana to a 73-67 men's basketball victory against Loyola at The Den.
     The Gold Rush are 5-0 for the sixth time in Dannton Jackson's 10 seasons as head coach. Loyola (2-2) dropped its second in a row, both at home against city rivals. The Wolf Pack lost 78-70 Saturday to SUNO.
     Joseph — a 5-foot-9 senior guard whose previous best was 18 points as a sophomore — was 10-of-16 from the floor, 2-of-3 from 3-point range and 4-of-4 from the line in 36 minutes. He had four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
     Denzell Erves had a season-high 16 points and a career-high four assists for Xavier, and Nick Haywood scored 12. Anthony Simmons had nine points and a season-high 12 rebounds.
     McCall Tomeny scored 19 points for Loyola, and Kyle Simmons, Mason Ibert and Robert Lovaglio scored 13 apiece.
     Six players scored during a 15-0 run which gave Xavier a 27-17 lead at 7:09 of the first half. The Gold Rush led 36-33 at halftime.
     Joseph scored 20 points in the second half, and his 3-pointer with 13:38 remaining put Xavier ahead to stay, 50-48. The Gold Rush had a pair of 10-point leads in the second half, the last after Joseph's basket made it 66-56 with 5:44 remaining.
     The Gold Rush preserved the victory by making 7-of-8 free throws in the final 36 seconds.
     Xavier, playing for the first time on the road this season, outshot Loyola 53.2 to 47.7 percent from the floor. Xavier had a 33-20 rebound advantage — the fourth time this season the margin was in double figures — and shot a season-best 85.7 percent from the line.
     Joseph, Erves and Haywood have scored in double figures in every game this season.
     Xavier leads the series 30-6 and won for the first time since a two-game Loyola sweep last season.
     The Gold Rush will play Wiley for homecoming at 2 p.m. Saturday at XU's new Convocation Center.
     NOTES:  Joseph is the first XU player under 6 feet to score 25 or more points since 5-11 Shaun Dumas scored 28 against Tougaloo on Jan. 15, 2009 . . . The Gold Rush shot 80.4 percent from the line during the past three games (78-of-97) . . . Jackson will be the guest on the Fox 8 (WVUE-TV) morning news show at 8:15 a.m. Thursday.