NEW ORLEANS — Senior forward William Loyd scored 23 of his career-high 31 points in the second half Saturday to help top-seeded Xavier University of Louisiana escape with an 82-78 men's basketball victory against city rival Dillard in the semifinals of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.
     The Gold Rush (26-6), ranked 15th in NAIA Division I, will play 12th-ranked and second seeded Tougaloo (24-7) for the championship at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at XULA's Convocation Center. The winner will receive the GCAC's automatic bid to the NAIA Division I National Championship tournament, which will begin March 18 in Kansas City, Mo.
     Loyd in the second half was 7-of-8 from the floor and made all nine of his free throws. He scored the final two points, free throws with two seconds remaining. A Cameron Wells basket with 34 seconds remaining put the Gold Rush ahead to stay.
     "First of all, I give the glory to God," said Loyd, who was chosen first-team All-GCAC and to the GCAC All-Defensive team this week. "It was a major effort by our team and coaches. I'm excited to be going to the next round and play for the GCAC (tournament) championship."
     It was a roller-coaster second half. A Tyrell Alcorn 3-pointer gave Dillard (18-14) a 60-50 lead with 14:05 remaining. But about 10 minutes later, Wells made 1-of-2 free throws to give the Gold Rush a 73-66 advantage at 3:57. Then came another Dillard surge, with Alcorn making 3s at 2:39 and 2:21 to cap a 10-0 run and give the Bleu Devils a 76-73 lead.
     But XULA regrouped at that point and closed with a 9-2 run.
     Makye Richard had 19 points, eight rebounds and three blocks for XULA. Rayshawn Mart scored 15, and Ed Carter made 2-of-3 3s in a 10-point performance.
     XULA head coach Alfred Williams also cited sophomore guard Cameron Dumas, who didn't fill up the stat sheet but provided some much-needed toughness, coolness, intelligence and defensive prowess to help XULA fight back from a 47-38 halftime deficit.
     "Cam Dumas came ready to play, and we needed him to show up today," Williams said. "The stage was not too big for him. He's used to this. He did this last year at (city rival) Loyola, helping them win their conference tournament and their first game at nationals."
     Dillard outshot XULA 50 to 47.4 percent from the floor and had an 11-4 advantage in made 3s. But the Gold Rush cleaned up at the line, making 24-of-33 free throws to Dillard's 5-of-6. That latter stat caused Dillard head coach Mike Newell to publicly grumble postgame; could Newell have forgotten that Dillard made 35-of-48 free throws to XULA's 13-of-19 in defeating the Gold Rush in the 2018 GCAC Tournament final at XULA?
     XULA was 3-0 against Dillard this season and defeated the fifth-seeded Bleu Devils for the second time in eight days.
     Malik Amos scored 27 points and made five 3s for Dillard, and Shannon Sanford had 11 points and 15 assists. Alcorn made six 3s and scored 18 points.
     The GCAC Tournament finalists split their two regular-season meetings. Tougaloo won 64-63 at home Feb. 8, then XULA won 69-65 at the Convocation Center this past Monday, giving the Gold Rush the GCAC regular-season championship by a game over the Bulldogs.
     Tougaloo defeated third-seeded Talladega, a 24-game winner, 90-78 in the first semifinal.