LSUS rallies late to beat Gold Rush 77-70

SHREVEPORT, La. — LSU-Shreveport outscored Xavier University of Louisiana 8-0 in the final 90 seconds Saturday to rally for a 77-70 Red River Athletic Conference men’s basketball victory.

\Lance Williams’ 3-pointer with 1:33 remaining gave XULA (13-7 overall, 8-5 RRAC) its final lead, 70-69. A Jalen Brooks putback at 1:11 gave the Pilots (17-5, 11-3) the lead for good, and a Stacey Thomas dunk with 34.3 seconds remaining made it 73-70.

LSUS closed its run with 4-of-4 free throws in the final 21 seconds.

Brooks, the RRAC’s leading scorer and rebounder, had 38 points and 14 rebounds.

XULA led for all but 46 seconds of the first half. The Gold Rush led 28-17 in the 12th minute, 37-32 at halftime and 41-33 with 18:08 remaining after Williams’ steal and layup.

A 15-4 run during a 6 1/2-minute stretch gave LSUS a 67-59 advantage, then XULA answered with an 11-2 run.

Williams scored a season-high 21 points. Xavier Reaves had 16 points and 10 rebounds for XULA — his second straight double-double and his seventh of the season — Cameron Wells scored a season-high 12 points, and TJ Jones scored 10.

LSUS made 26-of-28 free throws to XULA’s 14-of-23.

LSUS moved into a first-place tie in the RRAC with Texas A&M-Texarkana, which was idle. LSU-Alexandria’s 76-74 victory at Louisiana Christian moved the Generals into third place, a half-game ahead of XULA.

XULA will play two RRAC opponents next week at its Convocation Center: 7:30 p.m. Thursday against Our Lady of the Lake and 4 p.m. Saturday against Huston-Tillotson.