Friday, October 28, 2016

Rush beat Carver in opener, earn No. 25 NAIA ranking

NEW ORLEANS — Newcomer Jalen David scored 17 points Tuesday to lead NAIA No. 25 Xavier University of Louisiana to a season-opening 66-44 men's basketball victory against Carver College of Atlanta.
     
XULA won its opener for the 21st consecutive season and allowed its fewest points in an opener since 1995. It was the first game as head coach for XULA's Alfred Williams, a former Gold Rush assistant and standout player.
     
David, a 6-foot-4 guard/forward from Mount Vernon, N.Y., and a transfer from Moberly Area (Mo.) Community College, was 6-of-12 from the floor and made 5-of-6 free throws in 22 minutes as a reserve. He grabbed four rebounds and had a game-high three steals.
     
Seth Jackson had 12 points, five rebounds and a career-high six assists for the Gold Rush, and Leland Alexander had career highs of 11 points and 11 rebounds and his first collegiate double-double.
     
Tivius Guthrie had 10 points and six rebounds for Carver (0-2).
     
XULA made three of its first 17 floor shots and trailed 17-11 in the 14th minute before rallying to grab a 28-20 halftime lead. Twice the Gold Rush led by 25 points in the second half, the second time on Lucas Martin-Julien's basket with 2:46 remaining.
     
XULA outshot the Cougars 36.4 to 33.3 percent from the floor and outrebounded them 48-29. The Gold Rush were plus-9 in turnovers, committing 14 and gaining 23.
     
The NAIA announced its Division I preseason coaches poll approximately one hour before tip-off. XULA appears in the preseason top 25 for the seventh consecutive season.
     
XULA will play Wayland Baptist at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 4 — one week from Friday — at the Convocation Center. It will be the second game of doubleheader; the XULA women will open their season at 5:30 p.m. against Florida Memorial.

NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses — records from 2015-16)



RankTeamRecordPointsLast
1Mid-America Christian (6)28-92471
2Georgetown (Ky.) (1)32-42372
3William Penn (2)29-72286
4Biola (1)30-42255
5LSU-Alexandria29-42153
6Columbia (Mo.)29-620810
7Talladega25-62067
8MidAmerica Nazarene28-91914
9Carroll (Mont.)23-101779
10William Carey20-1216622
11Campbellsville25-1116511
12-tieWestmont21-11155RV
12-tieDillard17-1615520
14Our Lady of the Lake22-913713
15Lewis-Clark State29-512512
16Park20-1011324
17Hope International26-710714
18Oklahoma City15-11106RV
19Pikeville25-6978
20-tieLindsey Wilson17-1493NR
20-tieTexas Wesleyan24-89316
22Faulkner20-1482NR
23Central Methodist16-1661NR
24LSU-Shreveport18-1451RV
25Xavier21-1342RV

Dropped from previous rankings:  No. 15 Cumberlands, No. 17 Arizona Christian, No. 18 Langston, No. 19 Freed-Hardeman, No. 21 Peru State, No. 23 William Jessup, No. 25 Montana Western
    

Others receiving votes:  Southwestern Assemblies of God 38, Montana Western 36, Langston 29, William Woods 27, William Jessup 25, Cumberlands 22, Arizona Christian 12, Benedictine (Kan.) 8, Voorhees 6, Peru State 6, USAO 5, Dalton State 3

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