The Gold Rush's 2026 Red River Athletic Conference Tournament road runs into the North American Stallions in the first round.
Xavier (19-9, 15-7 RRAC) is the 3-seed and will host the sixth-seeded Stallions (18-9, 13-8 RRAC) Wednesday night at 7:30 in Alexandria's Laborde Earles Coliseum, formerly the Rapides Parish Coliseum. Both the season series and a trip to the tournament semifinals will be on the line.
The teams split their regular-season games, as North American won 66-63 at home in late November and XULA won 95-81 at the Convocation Center in early January.
North American boasts a robust offense, which is led by Syncere Shaw, who is averaging 17 points and 7 rebounds per game.
Guard Jamarric Hammond has proven adept at scoring and setting up others to score. He averages 9.7 points per game and is fourth in the conference with 91 assists.
Other players to watch include Naheim Norther, who leads the RRAC with 50 blocks and averages 10 points per game; Oakley Lewis, whose 55.3% field goal percentage is fourth-best in the conference; and Kemani Wilson, who is the fifth-most-proficient 3-point shooter in the RRAC at 43.0% and averages 9.7 points per game.
Xavier is well known as a team that produces virtually all game-effecting statistics as a team - every member of the team has put in critical minutes and made indispensable contributions throughout the season - but several players rate among the best in the conference.
Leon Williams is fifth in the RRAC with a 53.9% field goal percentage, while Seviuhn Turner is 5th in steals with 52. Turner has also been a consistent offensive threat all season and is averaging 11.5 points per game. Williams is averaging 7.9 points per game.
Point guard Bentravin Phillips has done the most to fill up the scoresheet for the Gold Rush this year. He has averaged 3.1 assists, 2.9 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and a team-best 14.1 points per game.
Nasir DeGruy is second on the team with an 11.8 points per game average.
The Red River Athletic Conference Tournament is an 8-team, single-elimination format.
