NEW ORLEANS — Rayshawn Mart scored a career-high 22 points Thursday to lead NAIA No. 23 Xavier University of Louisiana to a 79-62 men's basketball victory against Carver.
     The Gold Rush (3-0) won for the 23rd consecutive time in a home opener. Attendance was 1,204, XULA's most for a home opener since the 2012 debut of the Convocation Center.
     XULA will play host to NAIA No. 10 William Carey at 7 p.m. Monday.
     Mart, the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year last season, was 9-of-14 from the floor and tied a career high by making 3-of-4 3-pointers. He had five steals to match a career high, and he grabbed seven rebounds.
     Ed Carter was 7-of-9 from the floor and scored a season-high 16 points for XULA, Ahmed Coulibaly scored 10, and William Loyd had eight points and nine rebounds. Coulibaly made a pair of 3-pointers and is 6-of-6 from long range in the last two games.
     Coulibaly and Donovan Armstrong had three steals apiece.
     Rayford Washington scored 14 points, Antonio Gardner 12 and Tyler Thornton 11 for the Cougars (0-2), a National Christian College Athletic Association member from Atlanta. Carver is 0-11 all-time against XULA.
     Gardner grabbed eight rebounds, and Merdy Mongozi blocked six shots.
     XULA led wire-to-wire, 40-20 at halftime and 48-22 when Coulibaly made a 3 with 18:11 remaining. Carver rallied to trail by nine points twice in the final six minutes, then the Gold Rush ended the game on a 12-4 run.
     "We made 11 3's for the second straight game, which I liked," XULA head coach Alfred Williams said. "We won the rebounding war and forced (Carver) into 19 turnovers. Second half we lost some focus — we did that for the third straight game — but that will be corrected. Defensively when we lock in, we can be special."
     XULA outshot Carver 45.1 to 41.2 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Cougars 39-31.