NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana committed two turnovers, none in the second half, and rolled Saturday to its ninth consecutive men's basketball victory, 83-64 against Paul Quinn.
        The Gold Rush (9-2 overall, 8-1 Red River Athletic Conference) remained in a loss-column tie with LSU-Alexandria (13-1, 10-1) for first place in the league. Falling out of that tie was Our Lady of the Lake, which lost 85-71 at home to LSUA.
        The Gold Rush will break for Christmas, then return to the court Jan. 2 at Texas College. The next home game will be Jan. 7, also against Texas College.
        Lance Williams scored 21 points, Leon Smith 18, James Weathers 14 and Seviuhn Turner 13 for XULA. Turner had 11 rebounds and four assists, and Weathers had five assists and three steals. Smith, who did not start, scored 16 second-half points.
        Turner, Williams and Weathers — all Baton Rouge, La., residents — combined to make 14-of-15 free throws. Turner was 6-of-6.
        Corey Dunning grabbed 13 rebounds to help the Gold Rush win the boards by 10.
        New Orleanian Norris Williams scored 23 points, and John Harrison and Derrick Miller scored 12 apiece for the Tigers (2-11, 2-8), who lost their eighth in a row and have lost 13 straight on the road dating to last season.
        XULA scored the first 12 points and led 16-2 through 4 1/2 minutes, but the Tigers rallied and led 21-20 on Miller's 3-pointer at 8:52 of the first half. Then XULA scored the next 10 points and never lost the lead thereafter.
        XULA has outscored opponents in each of its last 13 halves, the program's longest streak of the last 21 seasons. The nine-game win streak matches the longest of Alfred Williams' nine seasons as head coach.
        It was Williams' birthday, too, and the crowd and players serenaded him postgame.