Gold Rush in top 25 for NAIA-leading 47th straight time

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana made its 47th consecutive appearance Tuesday in the NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll. The Gold Rush (21-8, 10-3 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference) are 21st, one place lower than a week ago.

Xavier has the longest current streak of top-25 appearances among NAIA DI men.

The Gold Rush have clinched the No. 2 seed for next week's GCAC Tournament. The GCAC's No. 1 seed and regular-season champion is Talladega, which is No. 1 nationally for the second consecutive week.

A third GCAC team, Philander Smith, missed the top 25 by 15 points and is 26th overall.

All three rounds of the men's GCAC Tournament will be played March 6-8 at XU's Convocation Center. The women's tournament will begin March 6 at Dillard's Dent Hall, then move to Xavier for the final two days.

Xavier's men and women will conclude the regular season Saturday against Dillard in the Crosstown Classic at the Convocation Center. The 7 p.m. men's game.

NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through Feb. 22) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Talladega (7) 24-3 248 1 2 Freed-Hardeman (2) 24-2 241 2 3 Pikeville (1) 25-2 236 3 4-tie Cal State San Marcos 25-3 222 tie-4 4-tie Hope International 24-2 222 tie-4 6 Dalton State 24-3 210 6 7 Georgetown (Ky.) 23-4 202 8 8 Concordia (Calif.) 23-6 184 7 9 Campbellsville 23-5 178 10 10 Martin Methodist 23-4 171 13 11 Montana Western 21-6 169 12 12 Mid-America Christian 20-8 164 14 13 Columbia (Mo.) 23-5 155 9 14 Wayland Baptist 23-4 152 15 15 LSU-Alexandria 19-3 150 16 16 Evangel 18-9 127 18 17 Our Lady of the Lake 21-4 115 19 18 Arizona Christian 22-7 112 11 19 Benedictine (Kan.) 21-7 101 17 20 Westmont 19-8 98 25 21 Xavier 20-8 97 20 22 Lewis-Clark State 21-7 87 21 23 Oklahoma City 15-7 64 24 24 Southwestern Assemblies of God 20-8 55 RV 25 Cumberlands 19-8 53 23 Others receiving votes: Philander Smith 38, Wiley 32, Faulkner 30, Rocky Mountain 25, Bethel (Tenn.) 21, LSU-Shreveport 20, Missouri Valley 9, Carroll (Mont.) 3

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director  
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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