 |
| XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA vs. WILEY WILDCATS Facebook photos |
NEW ORLEANS -- Morris Wright scored a season-high 24 points Friday, and NAIA No. 13 Xavier University of Louisiana pulled away in the second half for an 84-70 men's basketball victory against Wiley.
The Gold Rush (6-1) have won three straight.
Wright, a junior guard, made four 3-pointers, the most in a game by an XU player this season. Wright's trey with 18:18 remaining put Xavier ahead to stay, 43-40.
RJ Daniels and Anthony Goode scored 13 points apiece for Xavier, and Sydney Coleman had 12. Daniels grabbed 12 rebounds in his team-leading third double-double of the season.
Phillip Miller scored 30 points, 18 in the first half, for Wiley (1-2), the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament champion last season. Miller was the Wildcats' only double-figure scorer.
Xavier won for the second consecutive game after trailing at halftime. Wiley led 40-38 at the break, but the Rush produced a decisive 17-4 second-half run which lasted slightly more than six minutes. Coleman's two free throws with 6:24 remaining ended the burst and gave Xavier a 73-54 lead. The Gold Rush led by double digits for the final 9:42.
"Our second-half turnaround started with our defense, holding Wiley to 33 percent from the field," XU coach Dannton Jackson said. "Wiley did a good job kicking our butts in the first half, but then we started playing with some toughness, responded well and made plays."
Wiley finished at 40.7 percent from the floor and made 1-of-7 second-half 3-pointers after making four in the first half.
The Gold Rush shot a season-best 55.2 percent from the floor, had a season-high plus-16 rebound margin (41-25) and tied a season high with 20 assists. Xavier has outrebounded every opponent this season, five by double digits.
Xavier has beaten Wiley 15 straight times at home since 1986. The Gold Rush will visit Wiley on Nov. 25.
Xavier will play Mobile at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Convocation Center.
Box score
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information
Director
No comments:
Post a Comment