NEW ORLEANS - The mark of a good team is the ability to knuckle down and get a win, especially after a tough loss. Xavier's men's basketball team did just than Monday night, defeating in-state opponent Louisiana Christian 73-66 in a hard-fought RRAC contest. 

Xavier (16-8, 12-6 RRAC) outscored LCU (6-18, 4-14) 35-38 in the first half, then expanded the lead into double figures in the second before fending off a feverish attempt at a comeback by the Wildcats. The win was the perfect bounce back for XULA, which took a tough loss at Our Lady of the Lake in its last outing. 

A huge stat on the night was bench scoring; the Gold Rush's reserves outscored their LCU counterparts 38-2 on the night.

Seviuhn Turner, playing in reserve Monday night, put up a team-high 20 points to go along with 2 blocks, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals.

Junior center Jamal Gibson, ever a presence in the paint, put up his fith double-double of the season 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Bentravin Phillips scored 14 points on the night, while Nasir DeGruy was good for 12 points and 4 assists. 

DeGruy also logged a key block on a 3-point attempt by LCU's Tomario Thomas Jr late in the game, when the Wildcats were attempting to pull within one possession of the lead. 

Leon Williams, who scored 3 points and pulled down 6 rebounds, had the game-sealing block in the last 30 seconds of the game, swatting away a 3-point attempt by LCU's Justice Kelly, a multiple-time Red River Athletic Conference player of the week. 

XULA takes to the road for its next two contests, which will be the final two away games of the regular season. First up will be Texas A&M-Texarkana at 7:30 on Thursday.