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HAMMOND, La. — Xavier University of Louisiana
reduced a 24-point deficit to five in the second half before Southeastern Louisiana
held on for a 77-70 men's basketball victory Monday.
The Lions (1-1) of NCAA Division I counted the game
in their records and statistics, but the NAIA-member Gold Rush (4-2) did not.
William Loyd had game highs of 20 points and seven rebounds
for the Gold Rush.
TJ Jones scored 12 points and
Ed Carter 11 for
XULA, and those two combined to make 5-of-6 3-pointers.
XULA trailed 36-17 at halftime and 41-17 after LaQuan Butler's 3-pointer
with 18:03 remaining. But the Gold Rush battled back, reducing the lead to 57-52
when Loyd made both ends of a 1-and-1 with 8:19 remaining. SLU answered with a 17-6 run,
but XULA rallied again and reduced the deficit to less than 10 for the final 1:38.
Nick Caldwell scored 15 points, Tyron Brewer 12 and Brandon Gonzalez and LaQuan Butler 10 apiece
for SLU. Von Julien had eight points, five rebounds and six assists.
XULA shot 76 percent from the floor in the second half and
outshot SLU 52.9 to 43.5 percent overall. The Lions were plus-10 in turnovers, committing
15 and gaining 25.
"Took us a whole half to adjust to the speed of the game,"
XULA head coach
Alfred Williams said. "Guys relaxed and started to trust each other.
We competed, trusted our defensive principles and converted offensively.
If we can do it for two halves, then we will take that next step as the team we want to be."
XULA will visit NAIA No. 7 William Carey at 7 p.m. Thursday.
