NAIA No. 21 Gold Rush pull away in second half for 78-63 road victory

AUSTIN, Texas — Xavier University of Louisiana made its first six shots from the floor in the second half Thursday and rolled to a 78-63 Red River Athletic Conference men’s basketball victory against Huston-Tillotson.

XULA, ranked 21st in the NAIA, won for the fifth time in six games and the fourth straight time on the road. The Gold Rush (8-2 overall, 4-1 RRAC) took sole possession of second place in the RRAC when LSU-Alexandria and North American lost road games.

Lance Williams scored 16 points, J’Quan Ewing 14, Jathen Ross 13 and TJ Jones 10 for XULA. Ewing — a 6-foot-9 forward/center in his XULA debut after transferring from NCAA Division I Southern University — grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

Auston Chatman and Charles Hallmon scored 15 points apiece for Huston-Tillotson (3-9, 1-5).

Ross’ 15th-minute 3-pointer — one of four he made in the first half — put XULA ahead to stay at 22-19. It was 29-26 at halftime, then Williams capped the Gold Rush’s early second-half burst with a 3-point play to make it 45-32.

Jones’ layup with 2:56 remaining gave XULA its largest lead, 74-50.

XULA outshot the Rams 51.9 to 34.8 percent from the floor and produced advantages of 35-26 in rebounds and 42-10 in bench scoring.

LSU-Shreveport won 93-83 at Southwest (N.M.) to maintain its one-game lead over XULA in the RRAC.

The Gold Rush will stay on the road and visit Our Lady of the Lake in a 4 p.m. Saturday RRAC game at San Antonio, Texas.

Red River Athletic Conference scores of Jan. 4, 2024 (home teams in bold)
XULA 78, Huston-Tillotson 63
LSU-Shreveport 93, Southwest (N.M.) 83
Our Lady of the Lake 76, North American 62
Jarvis Christian 67, Louisiana Christian 65
Texas College 91, LSU-Alexandria 60
Texas A&M-Texarkana 53, Paul Quinn 52

Red River Athletic Conference standings through Jan. 4, 2024
5-0 LSU-Shreveport
4-1 XULA
5-2 Jarvis Christian
3-2 LSU-Alexandria
3-2 North American
4-3 Texas College
3-3 Our Lady of the Lake
2-3 Texas A&M-Texarkana
2-4 Southwest (N.M.)
1-4 Louisiana Christian
1-5 Huston-Tillotson
1-5 Paul Quinn