Top seed Tougaloo eliminates Gold Rush in overtime

JACKSONVILLE, Florida — Xavier University of Louisiana's men's basketball season ended Saturday in the semifinals of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament when top-seeded Tougaloo rallied for an 92-85 overtime victory.
     
The Gold Rush, seeded fourth, finished 18-14.
     
GCAC Player of the Year Tonzell Handy scored seven of his 22 points in overtime for the NAIA No. 4 Bulldogs (27-4), who will play sixth-seeded Edward Waters for the championship at 4:15 p.m. EST Sunday.
     
Tougaloo scored last in regulation on a Dearius Griffin 3-pointer that tied the score at 74 with 33 seconds remaining. XULA then missed two shots, including a 3, during its final possession.
     
The Gold Rush missed four free throws in the final 3:34 of regulation.
     
Senior guard Jeff Dixon concluded his collegiate career with a season-high 26 points for XULA. William Loyd scored 18 points — his 12th consecutive game in double figures — and Rayshawn Mart scored 11.
     
XULA led 41-33 at halftime. The Gold Rush led for 36 1/2 minutes in regulation but never led in overtime.
     
The Gold Rush were 0-4 in overtime games this season.
     
Tougaloo reached the GCAC Tournament final for the first time since 2012 and the third time overall.
     
Edward Waters, the host school, advanced to the GCAC Tournament final for the first time after a 71-54 victory against seventh-seeded SUNO. Dennis Miles had 21 points, including 11-of-12 free throws, and 11 rebounds for the Tigers (12-15), who upset three-time defending champion Dillard 66-55 in the opening round Friday.

BOX SCORE

2019 XULA Tennis Schedule
Team(s)	Date(s)	Opponent	Site	Time(s)
Women	Jan. 27 (Sun.)	TEXAS STATE (won 4-3)	XULA TENNIS CENTER	10 a.m.
Both	Feb. 2 (Sat.)	at South Alabama	Mobile, Ala.	Noon
Women	Feb. 9 (Sat.)	at New Orleans	New Orleans, La.	4 p.m.
Both	Feb. 10 (Sun.)	LOYOLA (N.O.)	XULA TENNIS CENTER	Noon
Women	Feb. 20 (Wed.)	Grambling	Baton Rouge, La.	3 p.m.
Men	Feb. 22 (Fri.)	at New Orleans	New Orleans, La.	4 p.m.
Both	Feb. 23 (Sat.)	John Brown	Alexandria, La.	Noon
Both	Feb. 23 (Sat.)	Texas Wesleyan	Alexandria, La.	4 p.m.
Women	Feb. 24 (Sun.)	at LSU-Alexandria	Alexandria, La.	10 a.m.
Men	Feb. 24 (Sun.)	Louisiana College	Alexandria, La.	10 a.m.
Men	Feb. 27 (Wed.)	NICHOLLS	XULA TENNIS CENTER	3 p.m.
Both	March 1 (Fri.)	at William Carey	Hattiesburg, Miss.	2 p.m.
Men	March 8 (Fri.)	TEXAS A&M-TEXARKANA	XULA TENNIS CENTER	11 a.m.
Both	March 9 (Sat.)	at Tougaloo	Jackson, Miss.	9 a.m.
Both	March 9 (Sat.)	Rust	Jackson, Miss.	1 p.m.
Both	March 9 (Sat.)	at Jackson State	Jackson, Miss.	4 p.m.
Men	March 13 (Wed.)	at Louisiana-Lafayette  (DH)	Lafayette, La.	5 p.m./7:30 p.m.
Both	March 15 (Fri.)	at Northwestern Ohio	Lima, Ohio	TBA
Both	March 16 (Sat.)	Indiana Wesleyan	TBA	TBA
Both	March 18 (Mon.)	SCAD ATLANTA	XULA TENNIS CENTER	3 p.m.
Both	March 22 (Fri.)	WILLIAM WOODS	XULA TENNIS CENTER	3 p.m.
Women	March 23 (Sat.)	SOUTHERN MISS	XULA TENNIS CENTER	2 p.m.
Both	March 28 (Thu.)	LEWIS-CLARK STATE	XULA TENNIS CENTER	3 p.m.
Both	March 29 (Fri.)	Reinhardt	Pensacola, Fla.	TBA
Both	March 30 (Sat.)	Lindsey Wilson	Pensacola, Fla.	TBA
Women	March 31 (Sun.)	LSU-Alexandria	Pensacola, Fla.	TBA
Men	March 31 (Sun.)	Texas A&M-Texarkana	Pensacola, Fla.	TBA
Both	April 6 (Sat.)	WILLIAM CAREY	XULA TENNIS CENTER	Noon
Women	April 7 (Sun.)	LSU-ALEXANDRIA	XULA TENNIS CENTER	Noon
Men	April 18 (Thu.)	at Mobile	Mobile, Ala.	Noon
Both	April 19 (Fri.)	Keiser	Pensacola, Fla.	TBA
Both	April 20 (Sat.)	at West Florida	Pensacola, Fla.	1 p.m.
Both	May 14 (Tue.)- May 18 (Sat.)	NAIA National Championships	Mobile, Ala.	TBA
(DH) doubleheader Home matches (in bold and CAPITAL LETTERS) are played at XULA Tennis Center (capacity 200), Xavier University campus, New Orleans TBA — to be announced All times are Central, except where noted Schedule is subject to change Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletics Director for Communications Department of Athletics & Recreation XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA  XULAgold.com twitter.com/xulagold www.facebook.com/xulagold