NEW ORLEANS -- NAIA No. 11 Xavier University of Louisiana lost 83-72 to SUNO in Gulf Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball Saturday.
Broc Willis scored 21 points and Merlin Walker a season-high 20 for the Knights (12-9, 4-5), who defeated the Gold Rush (18-6, 7-2) at The Castle for the first time since 2004.
Xavier still has the GCAC's best conference record. The Gold Rush are a half-game better than 6-2 Edward Waters and a game ahead of 5-2 Talladega.
Morris Wright scored 19 points and Lucas Martin-Julien 13 for Xavier, and Sydney Coleman and Anthony Goode had 12 apiece. Coleman led the Gold Rush with six rebounds.
SUNO led 33-32 at halftime and never trailed in the second half. After Goode's basket tied the score at 40 with 15 minutes remaining, the Knights made three 3-pointers in an 18-4 run during the next seven minutes.
SUNO outshot Xavier 51 to 43.1 percent from the floor. The Knights made 23-of-25 free throws -- 19-of-21 in the second half -- and the Gold Rush made 16-of-20. Both teams made five first-half 3-pointers -- Wright was 3-of-3 in the first seven minutes -- but SUNO finished 8-of-15 to Xavier's 6-of-16.
It was Xavier's first road defeat since Dec. 19. The Gold Rush had won five straight on the road, four in conference.
The Knights gained a regular-season split with the Gold Rush, and SUNO got its first doubleheader sweep of Xavier since 2002. The Lady Knights defeated the Gold Nuggets 61-56 in the opening game.
The next two Gold Rush games will be against ranked NAIA teams -- 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at No. 5 William Carey and 7:30 p.m. at home on Feb. 17 against No. 17 Philander Smith.
Box score
By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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