XU's Wright, Carter collect GCAC season honors

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Morris Wright and Elex Carter earned season honors in Gulf Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball Wednesday. Wright was chosen first-team All-GCAC for the third consecutive season, and he and Carter were named to the inaugural GCAC All-Defensive team.
    
The Gold Rush (19-11) will play Tougaloo (13-11) at 2 p.m. Friday at Dillard's Dent Hall in the opening round of the GCAC Tournament. Semifinals and finals for men and women will be played this weekend at XU's Convocation Center.
    
Wright, a 5-foot-10 senior guard from Zachary, La., and a former Zachary High School and Baton Rouge Community College standout, is the seventh from the Gold Rush to earn all-district or all-conference three times. He is averaging 18.9 points per game and is in the top 10 at Xavier in seven career categories, including No. 5 with 1,494 points. He leads the GCAC with a .423 3-point field-goal percentage and is top-4 in eight categories.
    
Carter, a 6-7 sophomore forward from LaPlace, La., and a graduate of East St. John High School, has blocked 34 shots — 11th on the Gold Rush all-time season list and XU's most since Angel Pinales blocked 38 in 1992-93. Carter also has 21 steals and 128 defensive rebounds. Wright leads Xavier with 54 steals and is tied for 10th at Xavier with 167 career steals.
    
Xavier's defense again is one of the best in NAIA Division I, ranking second in scoring defense (62.3) and field-goal percentage defense (.385). Xavier was the only team with more than one player named to the GCAC All-Defensive squad.
    
The GCAC's seven head coaches voted on the honors. Major awards, such as Player of the Year and Coach of the Year, will be announced Thursday evening at a tournament banquet at Xavier's University Center.

2015-16 All-GCAC Men's Basketball First Team
Name	School	Pos.	Yr.
Demetric Austin	Dillard	F	Jr.
Courtney Mack	Talladega	F	Sr.
Quintarius Porter	Tougaloo	G/F	Sr.
Jordan Washington	Talladega	G	Sr.
Morris Wright	Xavier	G	Sr.
Second Team
Name	School	Pos.	Yr.
Rashad Brackeen	Philander Smith	G	Jr.
Joe Brown	SUNO	C	Sr.
Dennis Hightower	Dillard	G	Jr.
Ronald March	Philander Smith	G	Sr.
De'Andre Scott	Tougaloo	G	Sr.
Charles-Eddie Smith	Edward Waters	G	So.
Keith Williams	Edward Waters	G	Jr.
Honorable Mention
Oceann Maddox, Edward Waters (G/F, Jr.); Christ Ward, Philander Smith (F, Jr.); Ezekiel Brown, SUNO (G, Fr.); Dominique Suggs, SUNO (G/F, Jr.); Jarmell Anderson, Tougaloo (G, Jr.); Andravious Smith, Tougaloo (F, Jr.)

2015-16 GCAC All-Defensive Team
Name	School	Pos.	Yr.
Joe Brown	SUNO	C	Sr.
Elex Carter	Xavier	F	So.
Courtney Mack	Talladega	F	Sr.
Oceann Maddox	Edward Waters	G/F	Jr.
Morris Wright	Xavier	G	Sr.
Honorable Mention
Kristian Clark, Dillard (G/F, Jr.); Dennis Hightower, Dillard (G, Jr.); Cameron Venus, Edward Waters (F, Sr.); Chris Ward, Philander Smith (F, Jr.); Ezekiel Brown, SUNO (G, Fr.); Jarmell Anderson, Tougaloo (G, Jr.); Denevian Cunningham, Tougaloo (F, Jr.); De'Andre Scott, Tougaloo (G, Sr.); Andravious Smith, Tougaloo (F, Jr.) Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director XULAgold.com XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA  twitter.com/xulagold www.facebook.com/xulagold