NEW ORLEANS —: William Loyd did not miss a shot in the second half Wednesday as he rallied Xavier University of Louisiana to a 65-51 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball victory against city rival SUNO at the Convocation Center.
     The Gold Rush (16-13, 7-6) will close the regular season in a 7:30 p.m. GCAC home game Monday against Philander Smith, then travel to Jacksonville, Fla., as the No. 5 seed in the GCAC Tournament March 1-3.
     Loyd had game highs of 23 points, nine rebounds and four steals. In the second half Loyd scored 16 points on 6-of-6 field goals and 4-of-4 free throws.
     Loyd's 3-pointer in the final minute of the first half was his first since Feb. 3, 2018, when he was a sophomore at NCAA Division II Spring Hill.
     XULA trailed 26-19 in the 17th minute and 28-24 at halftime, then outscored the Knights 41-23 in the second half. Damani Flanagain's two free throws with 9:57 remaining put XULA ahead to stay at 43-42.
     Rayshawn Mart had 16 points and seven rebounds for XULA, and Flanagain scored 10. Haji Jawara grabbed eight rebounds, giving him 17 in the last two games, and blocked three shots. Jeff Dixon had five assists.
     Geron Tate scored 17 points and Dimitri Cook 14 for SUNO (8-20, 2-11), which lost its fourth in a row and for the 12th time in its last 14 games. XULA limited Marcel Daniels — who entered with a 17.6 scoring average — to seven points, his second-lowest total in a game this season.
     SUNO's 51 points were its fewest in a game this season.