JACKSONVILLE, Fla. —
From 1997-2019, Xavier University of Louisiana men's basketball never
won the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.
But Sunday XULA repeated as tournament champion with a 70-60 victory against
top-seeded and NAIA No. 9 Talladega.
XULA led 34-31 at halftime, then pulled away
by outscoring the Tornadoes 25-7 in the first nine minutes of the second half.
Ed Carter's only points of the game, a 3-pointer with 11:04 remaining, gave
XULA its largest lead, 59-38.
Rayshawn Mart led XULA (13-4) with 25 points and eight rebounds
and was chosen tournament MVP.
Cameron Wells scored a season-high 11 points for XULA, and his younger
brother, Cory, had 10.
Corey Dunning and
TJ Jones scored eight points apiece, and Dunning grabbed seven
rebounds.
XULA's other all-tournament selection
was
Makye Richard.
XULA snapped the 15-game winning streak of Talladega (24-3)
and limited the Tornadoes to their fewest points in a game since 2018.
It was the first time since the early
1980s that XULA men's basketball won consecutive tournament championships
at the conference or district level. XULA in 1980-81 won the NAIA District 30 Tournament,
then won the NAIA District 30/GCAC Tournament in 1981-82.
"I'm really proud of my guys,"
said Mart, who averaged 21.3 points and eight rebounds in three tournament
victories.
"They came to play today and were focused on our assignments.
I also have to give credit to coach AJ (
Alfred Williams) and
coach Mitch (
Tyrone Mitchell). What they did tonight was real.
It was big losing half of our team from last year and still finding a
way to get it done."
Mart is averaging 22.3 points
per game this season, XULA's highest mark since Juan Mercier
averaged 22.9 points in 1987-88.
XULA earned the GCAC's automatic bid to NAIA nationals,
and Talladega is expected to receive an at-large bid Thursday.
Talladega beat XULA 61-49 Feb. 2 at XULA and won the GCAC regular-season
championship by a game over XULA, the regular-season winner a year ago.
