Gold Rush maintain top-25 national hoops ranking
NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana men’s basketball remained in the NAIA Division I top 25 Tuesday, dropping from 22nd to 23rd.
The Gold Rush are 17-6 overall and 4-2 in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference after a 90-72 home victory Monday against SUNO. XULA’s next game will start at 7:30 p.m. Monday against Edward Waters at XULA’s Convocation Center.
XULA has won three straight and 11 of its last 13 games under second-year head coach Alfred Williams, and junior guard Jeff Dixon leads NAIA Division I in total assists with 124.
William Penn of Oskaloosa, Iowa, is No. 1 for the second consecutive poll. The Statesmen received all nine first-place votes from the panel of coaches representing each conference and the Association of Independent Institutions. This is the first time this season there’s been a unanimous No. 1.
Two weeks ago XULA entered the top 25 for the first time since the preseason poll of Oct. 25, 2016. The next rankings will be announced Feb. 13.
NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses — records through Jan. 28)
| RANK | PREVIOUS | SCHOOL | RECORD | POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | William Penn (Iowa) (9) | 20-1 | 219 |
| 2 | 4 | The Master’s (Calif.) | 21-1 | 212 |
| 3 | 5 | Columbia (Mo.) | 21-1 | 202 |
| 4 | 3 | LSU-Shreveport (La.) | 19-2 | 194 |
| 5 | 2 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 20-2 | 193 |
| 6 | 12 | Pikeville (Ky.) | 20-2 | 188 |
| 7 | 15 | Science & Arts (Okla.) | 18-3 | 175 |
| 8 | 16 | Montana Western | 17-4 | 166 |
| 9 | 7 | Hope International (Calif.) | 19-3 | 159 |
| 10 | 5 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 19-3 | 155 |
| 11 | 13 | Dalton State (Ga.) | 17-4 | 146 |
| 12 | 9 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 19-3 | 142 |
| 13 | 13 | LSU-Alexandria (La.) | 17-5 | 140 |
| 14 | 10 | Carroll (Mont.) | 18-4 | 134 |
| 15 | 21 | Oklahoma City | 15-5 | 116 |
| 16 | 20 | Westmont (Calif.) | 16-4 | 115 |
| 17 | 19 | William Carey (Miss.) | 15-4 | 106 |
| 18 | 23 | Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) | 16-6 | 103 |
| 19 | 8 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 17-5 | 88 |
| 20 | 11 | Wayland Baptist (Texas) | 15-5 | 87 |
| 21 | 18 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 16-5 | 74 |
| 22 | 17 | Missouri Baptist | 18-4 | 65 |
| 23 | 22 | Xavier (La.) | 16-6 | 62 |
| 24 | RV | Texas Wesleyan | 14-7 | 53 |
| 25 | 25 | Life (Ga.) | 16-7 | 48 |
Others Receiving Votes: Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) 47; Peru State (Neb.) 46; William Jessup (Calif.) 27; Campbellsville (Ky.) 23; Faulkner (Ala.) 14; Graceland (Iowa) 9; Talladega (Ala.) 4; Dillard (La.) 3.
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Ed Cassiere
