NEW ORLEANS - The race for the Red River Athletic Conference crown is still young, but Xavier's men's basketball team claimed a major win Wednesday night, downing Our Lady of the Lake 90-78. 

OLLU (7-4, 3-1) was previously undefeated in conference play and in third place in the RRAC bt Xavier (6-3, 3-1) lept into that position with the win. 

The Gold Rush outperformed the Saints in both halves and led 41-36 at the break before pulling away in the second half. 

An always-aggressive XULA defense held OLLU to 45 percent shooting and forced 19 turnovers. 

Five Xavier players scored in double figures on the night, with Bentravin Phillips scoring a game-high 21 points to go along with 7 assists, 3 rebounds, and two steals. He was also a perfect (and impressive) 12-for-12 at the line. 

Low post standout Jamal Gibson had a bruisingly strong performance down low and posted a 14-rebound, 13-point double-double. 

Elijah Tate had another strong offensive effort, posting 20 points, 4 rebounds, an assist, and a steal. 

Seviuhn Turner and Nasir DeGruy rounded out the double-figure scorers with 16 and 10 points, respectively.  Wayne Randall-Bashay put up great stats playing in reserve, scoring 7 points and pulling down 9 rebounds. 

Next up for Xavier will be a Saturday home game against Texas A&M-San Antonio. This Red River Athletic Conference contest tips at 3 p.m. in the Convoction Center and will be the Gold Rush's last contest before the New Year. 

The game will be broadcast live on the XULA Athletics YouTube channel.