Monday, January 9, 2017

Gold Rush prevail in overtime in GCAC opener


NEW ORLEANS — Jalen David broke out of a scoring slump with 18 points, and Seth Jackson scored seven of his 13 points in overtime Saturday to lead Xavier University of Louisiana to a 74-69 men's basketball victory against Tougaloo.

The Gold Rush (4-11, 1-0 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference) snapped a six-game losing streak, XULA's longest since the 1998-99 season.

David, XULA's season scoring leader, reached double figures for the first time in five games and sent the game into overtime with a basket with 20 seconds remaining. Jackson's 3-point play at 1:50 of overtime put the Gold Rush ahead to stay, 66-65.

Wesley Pluviose-Philip scored 14 points to tie a career high, grabbed a season-high-tying nine rebounds and blocked two shots for XULA. Leland Alexander had his second double-double of the season, 10 points and 11 rebounds, and freshman point guard Donovan Armstrong had eight assists and no turnovers in 38 minutes.

Andravious Smith had 29 points and 12 rebounds for the Bulldogs (5-7, 0-1), Anfernee Parker scored 20, and Jarmell Anderson had 10 assists.

Tougaloo entered the game averaging 82 points, but XULA limited the Bulldogs to 59 in regulation. The Gold Rush outshot Tougaloo 49 to 33.3 percent from the floor. In overtime XULA made 11-of-15 free throws, a significant improvement from 14-of-25 in regulation.

XULA beat Tougaloo for the 12th consecutive time. The Gold Rush eliminated the Bulldogs in double overtime in the opening round of the GCAC Tournament last season.

XULA's home stand will continue with a 7 p.m. game Friday against NCAA Division III's Rust and a 7:30 p.m. game Jan. 16 against GCAC and city rival SUNO.

BOX SCORE

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

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