JACKSONVILLE, Florida -- Junior guard Morris Wright made a career-high six 3-pointers Saturday, leading NAIA No. 20 Xavier University of Louisiana to a 61-50 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball victory against Edward Waters.
Wright scored 20 points, and the Gold Rush (15-6, 4-1) won its fourth in a row, all in conference.
"Mo hit some shots early and kept on going," XU coach Dannton Jackson said. "Collectively, we played well on the road, and I was happy to see our guys do that."
Wright was 6-of-7 from behind the arc -- 4-of-5 in the first half -- and became the ninth Gold Rush player to make six or more treys. He's the first to do it since Renard Smith made six at home against Tougaloo on Jan. 12, 2013. The Gold Rush record for single-game 3-pointers is eight, set by Percy Bland in 1989 and tied by Mark Stewart in 2008.
Wright missed a 3-pointer on Xavier's first possession, then made his final six attempts. His last trey at 13:46 of the second half gave Xavier its largest lead, 44-22.
After a tie and two lead changes, Xavier took the lead for good, 10-9, on Troy Salvant's basket at 12:13. But the Gold Rush did not gain separation until a 12-0 run in the final 3:15 of the first half, including Wright 3-pointers at 1:22 and 0:47.
"That was a real special moment for Mo," said Jackson, whose team led 36-18 at halftime.
Sydney Coleman, with 12 points, was Xavier's only other double-figure scorer. But Jackson got points from all 10 players he used.
Dontay Sheppard scored 19 points for the Tigers (10-9, 1-5), and Charles-Eddie Smith made four 3-pointers and scored 12 points. Nathaniel Hill -- the reigning GCAC Player of the Week and averaging 13.7 points and 16.3 rebounds the previous three games -- had six points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 5:31 remaining.
"Hill is a very good player," Jackson said. "We went at him, tested him, and we were lucky to get calls on the road. Our post guys did a great job catching the ball and attacking inside."
Xavier outshot the Tigers 41.5 to 39.2 percent from the floor and outrebounded them 34-27. The Gold Rush dominated at the line, making 21-of-26 to the Tigers' 5-of-9. It's the sixth time in seven road games this season that Xavier made more free throws than its opponent.
Coleman led the Rush with six rebounds and had two assists and two blocks. The blocks were his first in 10 games.
Xavier will stay on the road and travel to Denmark, S.C., for a GCAC game against Voorhees at 7:30 p.m. EST Monday.
NOTES: This is Xavier's second four-game win streak this season . . . Xavier is 6-0 against Edward Waters since the Tigers joined the GCAC in the summer of 2010 and 8-2 all-time . . . Xavier is 126-of-300, 42 percent, from 3-point range this season. Through 21 games last season, the Gold Rush were 88-of-253, 34.8 percent . . . Xavier has made 45.7 percent of its 3's on the road this season . . . Wright made 8-of-9 3-pointers the last two games.
Box score
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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