Thursday, February 4, 2016

Rush receiving votes again; next foe climbs to 21st



NEW ORLEANS — When the men's basketball teams of Xavier University of Louisiana and Dillard meet at 5 p.m. Saturday in the Crosstown Classic at XU's Convocation Center, it will include a role-reversal not seen in more than a decade.
   
For the second straight week, the Gold Rush are among "others receiving votes" in the NAIA Division I top 25 coaches poll, and the Bleu Devils are in the top 25. Xavier received six points and is tied for 33rd overall, and its longtime city and Gulf Coast Athletic Conference rival climbed from 24th to 21st.
    
Xavier's men haven't played a ranked Dillard team since Jan. 31, 2004, when the seventh-ranked Gold Rush won 84-79 at No. 18 Dillard. The Bleu Devils' second loss in three days knocked them out of the top 25, and they did not return to the rankings until last week.
    
Xavier, meanwhile, seeks a return to the top 25 after 55 consecutive appearances there. When Xavier was 21st in the Jan. 19 poll, it possessed the longest active top-25 streak in the division.
    
The Gold Rush are 16-8 after rallying late for a 59-50 GCAC victory Monday at SUNO. Dillard, 14-7 after an 82-65 Tuesday non-conference loss at Loyola, has as many victories this season as it did the previous three years combined.
    
Talladega, the leader in the GCAC by a half-game over Dillard, climbed from ninth to sixth nationally. Second-year program LSU-Alexandria received 5-of-10 first-place votes and climbed a notch to earn its first No. 1 ranking.
NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses — records through Jan. 31)

RankTeamRecordPointsLast
1LSU-Alexandria (5)19-22452
2Georgetown (Ky.) (4) 19-2243 5
3Columbia (Mo.) 21-22334
4Pikeville (1)19-22301
5Lewis-Clark State20-22203
6Talladega 19-42009
7William Penn18-41996
8Hope International18-4195tie-7
9Texas Wesleyan17-419212
10Biola20-318211
11Langston16-416913
12Mid-America Christian17-5159tie-7
13Carroll (Mont.)16-515314
14Freed-Hardeman 17-5135 17
15Park14-513416
16Westmont16-513115
17Peru State 14-712421
18William Carey14-811919
19Campbellsville18-610118
20MidAmerica Nazarene16-69523
21Dillard14-67924
22Arizona Christian17-57410
23Our Lady of the Lake12-67022
24William Jessup15-660RV
25Oklahoma City10-653RV

      

Dropped from rankings:  No. 20 Southwestern Assemblies of God, No. 25 (tie) Montana Western, No. 25 (tie) William Woods
      

Others receiving votes:  Montana Western 40, Voorhees 33, Cumberlands 29, William Woods 26, Middle Georgia 24, Avila 11, Bethel (Tenn.) 9, Science & Arts 6, Xavier 6

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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