ALEXANDRIA, La. —
Xavier University of Louisiana men's basketball finally broke through at LSU-Alexandria,
scoring 49 second-half points Tuesday to rally for a 77-62 Red River Athletic Conference victory.
The Gold Rush (7-4 overall, 3-2 RRAC)
won at LSUA (8-6, 2-4) for the first time in five attempts.
It was the first of three games in five days for XULA, which
will play host to Texas College at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in XULA's Convocation Center.
The Gold Rush trailed 32-28 after LSUA scored the
final 11 points of the first half, then outscored the Generals 49-30 thereafter.
Second-year guard
Tracy Steele, in his season debut, scored a career-high 16 points.
"This team is learning how to win," seventh-year
XULA head coach Alfred Williams said. "Tonight our guys gave a championship-level performance for 33, maybe 34 minutes."
Steele made one shot, a 3-pointer, in three
first-semester games in 2021-22. Against LSUA he was 5-of-8 from the floor, 3-of-5
on 3-pointers, and he had four rebounds, a block and a steal in 21 minutes.
"I'm super proud of Tracy," Williams said.
"He was ready tonight when his number was called. He gave us just what we needed.
He made shots and played outstanding."
Seven XULA players scored seven-or-more points.
Brian White
scored 12,
Corey Dunning,
Lance Williams,
Xavier Reaves and
Cory Wells had eight apiece, and
TJ Jones had seven.
Dunning matched his season high.
Wells and Dunning grabbed five rebounds apiece, and Reaves had three of XULA's 13 steals.
Jakemin Abney scored 17 points, and Jadarrian Allen had 16 points and four blocked shots for LSUA,
which is 7-2 all-time against the Gold Rush. They'll meet again Jan. 26 at XULA.
XULA's 19-point second-half scoring advantage was its largest
in a conference road game since 2012.
The Generals, 101-9 in nine seasons at The Fort, suffered the largest-ever losing margin on their
home court. The previous worst was an 88-78 defeat against Texas A&M-Texarkana in 2021.
