XU Gold Rush's No. 11 rank is the highest in nearly two years

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana climbed two places to 11th Tuesday in the NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll. It's the highest national position for the Gold Rush since a No. 10 ranking on Feb. 7, 2011.

Voting was based on games through Sunday. The following day Xavier lost 74-65 at home to Gulf Coast Athletic Conference rival Fisk to snap a six-game winning streak. XU's two most recent victories were 70-68 in overtime against SUNO on Jan. 14 and 84-79 Saturday against then-No. 22 Philander Smith. The Panthers, who share first place in the GCAC with Xavier, fell to 23rd.
Also receiving votes from the GCAC was SUNO, which is 29th with 24 points.

Xavier is in the top 25 for the 30th time in 31 polls and the 55th time overall during Dannton Jackson's 10 seasons as head coach. Xavier's current streak is 17 consecutive polls, fifth longest among this week's top 25.

Xavier will visit GCAC and city rival Dillard at 7 p.m. Saturday and Mobile at 7:30 p.m. Monday. The next poll will be released Jan. 22.

NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through Sunday, Jan. 20) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Columbia (Mo.) (11) 20-0 281 1 2 Lee (Tenn.) 17-1 264 6 3 Pikeville 18-2 260 2 4-tie John Brown 17-3 247 10 4-tie Lewis-Clark State 19-2 247 3 6 Westmont 16-3 243 7 7 Lindsey Wilson 18-2 229 tie-8 8 William Carey 16-3 212 4 9 Cal State San Marcos 16-4 210 tie-8 10 Oklahoma Baptist 16-4 209 5 11 Xavier 17-3 184 13 12 Bethel (Tenn.) 18-2 176 15 13 Montana State Northern 17-4 168 12 14 Emmanuel (Ga.) 18-2 159 18 15 Hope International 18-2 158 16 16 Southwestern Assemblies of God 15-3 156 17 17 MidAmerica Nazarene 15-6 126 25 18 Rogers State 15-5 125 20 19 Evangel 14-5 118 11 20 Faulkner 17-3 115 21 21 Science & Arts 10-4 85 23 22 Westminster (Utah) 16-4 84 19 23 Philander Smith 13-5 80 22 24 Shawnee State 11-7 76 RV 25 Cumberlands 15-5 60 14 Others receiving votes: LSU-Shreveport 54, Great Falls 44, Arizona Christian 34, SUNO 24, Georgetown (Ky.) 19, Culver-Stockton 19, Mid-Continent 8, St. Thomas (Texas) 7. By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director XULAATHLETICS XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA