Gold Rush use final-minute surge to prevail at Tougaloo

TOUGALOO, Mississippi -- Anthony Goode and RJ Daniels combined for six points in the final minute Saturday to help NAIA No. 13 Xavier University of Louisiana earn a 74-69 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball victory against Tougaloo.

It was the eighth victory in the last nine games for the Gold Rush (17-5, 6-1) and the fourth in a row on the road.

Xavier trailed by 10 points in each half but did not trail in the final 3:22. After Marcus Harper of Tougaloo (6-16, 2-5) made two free throws for a tie at 68 with 1:16 remaining, Xavier outscored the Bulldogs 6-1.

Goode -- who scored all nine of his points in the final 6:17 -- made a basket with 48 seconds remaining to put Xavier ahead to stay. Gary Love made 1-of-2 free throws for Tougaloo, then Daniels made it 72-69 with a basket with 15 seconds remaining.

Cordaryl Campbell missed a 3-pointer for Tougaloo with three seconds remaining. Goode rebounded, was fouled and made two free throws to close the scoring.

Sydney Coleman had 17 points and a career-best 16 rebounds, the most by a Gold Rush player since the start of the 2003-04 season. The double-double was his sixth of the season. Lucas Martin-Julien scored a career-best 16 points -- he made 10-of-11 free throws -- and Daniels scored 12.

Campbell scored 21 points, Love 14 and Harper 13 for the Bulldogs.

Denzel Hardy's basket capped a 17-3 run and gave Tougaloo a 38-28 lead at 1:06 of the first half, but Morris Wright passed to Coleman for a basket, then hit a 3-pointer at the close of the half to cut the Bulldogs' advantage to 39-33.

Tougaloo led 44-34 after the first 90 seconds of the second half, but Martin-Julien scored the next seven points to move Xavier back in contention.

Xavier shot 44.9 percent from the floor, made 28-of-36 free throws -- 19-of-22 in the second half -- and outrebounded the Bulldogs 47-19. Goode and Daniels grabbed six rebounds apiece.

The Gold Nuggets will stay on the road and visit NAIA No. 20 Philander Smith at 7:30 p.m. Monday in Little Rock, Ark.

Box score

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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