NEW ORLEANS — Top-seeded Xavier University of Louisiana men's basketball scored 52 second-half points Wednesday to blast Rust 87-57 in the first round of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.
     The Gold Rush (25-6), ranked 15th in the NAIA, will play fifth-seeded city rival Dillard in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Saturday at XULA's Convocation Center. Dillard led 32-5 against Edward Waters in Jacksonville, Fla., before rallying late for a 76-73 victory in its tournament opener.
     William Loyd scored 24 points, Virgil Davison 20 and Ed Carter 11 for XULA, which took the lead for good in the second minute and led 35-27 at halftime. The Gold Rush shot 58.3 percent from the floor, 71 percent in the second half.
     "After an ugly first half," XULA head coach Alfred Williams said, "we started playing to the standard in the second half. It was our third game in five days, so we knew mental fatigue would be a problem. But the guys regrouped at halftime. Virgil Davison and Ed Carter gave us a big lift off the bench. TJ Jones was distributing and getting us into the offense. We were able to control the second-half tempo, something we did not do in the first half."
     Jones had 10 assists and reached double figures in that category for the second time this season. Jones produced 12 assists in a Jan. 13 victory at Rust.
     Quentin Pough and Malik Burnett scored 13 points apiece for Rust (3-28), the No. 8 seed and 0-16 on opponents' courts this season.