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Monday, July 15, 2019
Rush schedule has Georgia trips, earlier homecoming
Fourth-year head coach Alfred Williams announced Monday the 2019-20 schedule, which will tip off Oct. 25 in Thomasville, Ga., against Thomas University.
Game two will be Oct. 26 in Brunswick, Ga., against first-time opponent Coastal Georgia, then the XULA men will play their home opener Oct. 30 against another Georgia team, Carver College of Atlanta.
The Gold Rush will return to Georgia for games against NCAA Division II members Columbus State (Nov. 16) and Clark Atlanta (Nov. 17). Columbus State will be the other Gold Rush first-time opponent.
"We're looking forward to going to Georgia and giving Xavier alumni over there a chance to see us play," Williams said.
XULA homecoming games in recent years were played the Saturday before Thanksgiving. But this time the Gold Rush will play NCAA Division II LeMoyne-Owen Nov. 9 as part of XULA's homecoming celebration Nov. 6-10.
The 2019 NAIA national tourney teams on the schedule will be:
• William Carey (semifinalist) — Nov. 5 home, Nov. 30 road.
• Wiley (round of 16) — Nov. 20 home.
• City rival Loyola (round of 16) — Nov. 26 home, Dec. 14 road.
• Talladega — Jan. 25 home, Feb. 22 road.
• Tougaloo (defending Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament champion) — Feb. 8 road, March 2 home.
"Our schedule, both non-conference and conference, will be extremely competitive," Williams said.
XULA will play GCAC and city rival Dillard Feb. 15 at home in the Crosstown Classic and Feb. 29 at Lakefront Arena (University of New Orleans) during DU's Bleu Devil Classic. XULA's other GCAC and city rival, SUNO, will play host to the Gold Rush Jan. 20 and visit XULA Feb. 17.
The lone Gold Rush exhibition will be Nov. 11 at NCAA Division I Southeastern Louisiana.
XULA returnees include senior forward William Loyd and junior guard Rayshawn Mart, both of whom earned NAIA Division I All-America honorable mention last season. Also back is junior guard Ed Carter, who tied the XULA game record with eight made 3-pointers against Philander Smith.
"We will be better than we were last season," Williams said. "We'll have many seniors, so we'll have the best experience in our conference. Our team will be able to defend and run in transition. We should be able to be disruptive on defense and use our defense to create things for us offensively."
The GCAC Tournament will be March 6-8 in New Orleans, followed by the NAIA Division I National Championship March 18-24 at Kansas City, Mo. This will be the final season of two NAIA basketball divisions; all basketball schools will play in one division in 2020-21.
NOTES: XULA will play in Georgia for the first time since visiting Morehouse and Clark Atlanta in January 2003 . . . This is the 81st season of XULA men's basketball . . . XULA was 18-14 overall, 8-6 GCAC in 2018-19 . . . All XULA games at the Convocation Center will be streamed live, same as a year ago . . . This will be XULA's eighth season in the Convocation Center, which seats nearly 4,000 and has all-chairback seating . . . The venue for XULA's season opener is about 60 miles southeast of Donalsonville, Ga., the home of Gold Rush junior guard Anfernee King . . . Teammate and senior guard Donovan Armstrong(Round Rock, Texas), also will get to play near his hometown when the Gold Rush visit Huston-Tillotson Nov. 23 in Austin . . . Carver will be the opponent in the home opener for the second consecutive season and the sixth time in 11 seasons.
Xavier University of Louisiana
2019-20 Men's Basketball Schedule
Oct. 25 (Fri.): at Thomas, 5 p.m. EDT
Oct. 26 (Sat.): at Cosatal Georgia, 5 p.m. EDT
Oct. 30 (Wed.): CARVER, 7 p.m.
Nov. 2 (Sat.): at Mobile (DH), 4 p.m.
Nov. 5 (Tue.): WILLIAM CAREY, 7 p.m.
Nov. 9 (Sat.): LeMOYNE-OWEN, 1 p.m. (Homecoming)
Nov. 11 (Mon.): at Southeastern Louisiana, 7:30 p.m. (exhibition)
Nov. 16 (Sat.): at Columbus State, 3:30 p.m. EST
Nov. 17 (Sun.): at Clark Atlanta, TBA
Nov. 20 (Wed.): WILEY, 7 p.m.
Nov. 22 (Fri.): at Texas College, 6 p.m.
Nov. 23 (Sat.): at Huston-Tillotson, 6 p.m.
Nov. 26 (Tue.): LOYOLA (N.O.), 7 p.m.
Nov. 30 (Sat.): at William Carey (DH), 4 p.m.
Dec. 14 (Sat.): at Loyola (N.O.) (DH), TBA
Dec. 17 (Tue.): MOBILE (DH), 5 p.m.
Jan. 7 (Tue.): TEXAS COLLEGE, 7 p.m.
Jan. 11 (Sat.) • at Philander Smith (DH), 4 p.m.
Jan. 13 (Mon.) • at Rust (DH), 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 20 (Mon.) • at SUNO (DH), 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 25 (Sat.): • TALLADEGA (DH), 5 p.m.
Jan. 27 (Mon.): • EDWARD WATERS (DH), 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 1 (Sat.): • RUST (DH), 5 p.m.
Feb. 3 (Mon.): • PHILANDER SMITH (DH), 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 8 (Sat.) • at Tougaloo (DH), 5 p.m.
Feb. 15 (Sat.): • DILLARD (DH), 5 p.m. (Crosstown Classic)
Feb. 17 (Mon.): • SUNO (DH), 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 22 (Sat.) • at Talladega (DH), 5 p.m.
Feb. 24 (Mon.) • at Edward Waters (DH), 7:30 p.m. EST
Feb. 29 (Sat.) • at Dillard (DH), 5 p.m. (at UNO Lakefront Arena)
March 2 (Mon.): • TOUGALOO (DH), 7:30 p.m.
March 6-8 (Fri.-Sun.): Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament at New Orleans
March 18-24 (Wed.-Tue.): NAIA Division I National Championship at Kansas City, Mo., TBA
Home games in BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS
• Gulf Coast Athletic Conference game
(DH) Doubleheader with XULA's women
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
3 XULA teams reach NAIA Scholar-Team distinction
Women's basketball, women's tennis and men's tennis all earned the honor for compiling a minimum 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale as defined by the institution. The team GPA includes all eligible varsity student-athletes.
"We are thrilled to see our student-athletes' hard work in the classroom earn national recognition," said Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs / Director of Athletics & Recreation Jason Horn.
"This award shows that these teams are disciplined, that they prioritize and that they place the necessary emphasis on academics."
All three teams were winners on the court, too. Women's basketball finished 23-8 (13-1 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference), won the GCAC regular-season championship, qualified for the NAIA Division I National Championship tournament and ranked 24th in the final coaches poll. Women's tennis was 19-6, reached the NAIA national semifinals and ranked third in the postseason poll. Men's tennis was 17-9, was the NAIA national runner-up for the third time in four years and ranked second in the postseason poll.
Women's basketball team members were Mikayla Bates, Alexis Burke, Kyla Duncan, Adriana Fernandez, Anica Gacevic, Nina German, Jas Hill, Jalyn Hodge, Shaelyn Johnson, Jayla Nichols, Nahrie Pierce, Joi Simmons, Gina Smith, Caprice Taylor, Maya Trench, Da'Jha Virgil and Essence Wells. Women's tennis team members were Lacee Ancar, Julia Anglin, Farah Baklouti, Mariia Borodii, Angela Charles-Alfred, Angelica De Vincenzis, Charlene Goreau and Yi Chen Pao. Men's tennis team members were Shaikh Abdullah,Ghassan Alansi, Chris Anders, Pierre Andrieu, Samir Chikhaoui, Gabriel Niculescu and Santiago Perez.
The NAIA said 1,939 teams nationwide — 77 more than a year ago — achieved Scholar-Team status in 2018-19. XULA was one of two GCAC schools to produce a Scholar-Team; the other was Philander Smith, which repeated in women's basketball and also was honored in women's volleyball.
This is the fifth time in six years that XULA produced an NAIA Scholar-Team. Previous recipients were women's volleyball in 2013-14 and 2014-15, women's tennis in 2013-14, men's tennis in 2015-16 and women's cross country in 2017-18.
Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletics Director for Communications
Department of Athletics & Recreation
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
XULAgold.com
twitter.com/xulagold
www.facebook.com/xulagold
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