Gold Rush roll past Stallions 94-61 in XULA opener

NEW ORLEANS — NAIA All-American Rayshawn Mart had 25 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals Thursday to lead Xavier University of Louisiana in a 94-61 men’s basketball victory against North American University of Houston.

A crowd of 1,304 watched XULA win its season opener for the 25th time in its last 26 attempts.

Mart, a 6-foot-3 fifth-year guard, scored 19 in the first half. The Gold Rush led 53-31 at halftime. It was the fourth consecutive year that Mart reached 20 points in the first home game.

Newcomer Charles Dickson, a third-team All-Sooner Athletic Conference selection last season for Southwestern Christian, scored 15 points for XULA and made a game-high three 3-pointers in five attempts. Makye Richard, an NAIA honorable-mention All-American a year ago, had 14 points, six assists and three steals.

Also contributing for XULA were newcomers Jalen King with seven points, 11 rebounds and two blocks and Lance Williams with nine points and a game-high eight assists.

“Charles Dickson was instant offense off the bench,” sixth-year XULA head coach Alfred Williams said. “Lance Williams was unbelievable for a freshman point guard.”

Mckinley Harris had 19 points and seven rebounds for the Stallions (0-2), and Kiante Kizzie scored 11.

“Our goal was to get a certain number of defensive stops in a row, and we met that goal,” Williams said. “We shot 40 percent on 3-pointers — that’s definitely a plus because we struggled at times with 3s last season.”

Overall the Gold Rush shot 53.7 percent from the floor — a higher mark than in any game by last season’s XULA team, which reached the second round of NAIA nationals for the first time since 2007 and repeated as Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament champion.

XULA will play city rival Loyola — an NAIA national quarterfinalist last season — at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Convocation Center.