NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana -- Morris Wright scored 19 points Tuesday, and NAIA No. 19 Xavier University of Louisiana scored the final six points to earn a 56-51 men's basketball victory against Mobile.
The Gold Rush (8-2) avenged a 54-39 loss at Mobile from two weeks earlier and gave the Rams their first loss of the season.
Will Hornsby's basket with 44 seconds remaining gave Mobile its final lead, 51-50. Xavier went ahead to stay, 52-51, on a pair of Lucas Martin-Julien free throws -- his only points of the game -- with 31 seconds remaining. On the next possession, Martin-Julien went out of bounds to control a rebound of a missed Mobile shot, then Wright made a pair of free throws with nine seconds to play.
Wright led the Gold Rush in scoring for the 13th consecutive game. Wesley Pluviose-Philip scored nine points, and Jarvis Thibodeaux and RJ Daniels scored eight apiece.
D.J. Hill scored 12 points, James Davis 11 and Brandon Barnes for the Rams (6-1). Davis, who entered the game as NAIA Division I's most accurate 3-point shooter, missed his only attempt from behind the arc.
Xavier led 28-21 at halftime and 35-25 after Thibodeaux's basket with 15:29 remaining.
Mobile outshot Xavier 45.2 to 39.5 percent from the floor. The Gold Rush made 19-of-23 free throws -- a season-best 82.6 percent -- to Mobile's 11-of-17.
Xavier is 8-0 at home this season. It's the first time since 2010-11 that the XU men won their first eight home games.
Xavier will visit city rival Loyola at 7 p.m. Thursday.
BOX SCORE
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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