Mart’s 27 points lead XULA men past SBC in hoops opener

NEW ORLEANS — Rayshawn Mart scored 27 points Wednesday to lead NAIA No. 20 Xavier University of Louisiana in a 79-58 men’s basketball victory against Southeastern Baptist.

It was the opener for both teams.

Mart, a senior guard and an honorable-mention All-American each of the past two seasons, was 9-of-13 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the line in 30 minutes. He made 3-of-6 3-pointers and contributed five rebounds, two assists and three steals.

Mart scored the most points by a XULA player in an opener since David Egans with 30 against Wiley on Nov. 4, 2000, at The Barn.

Freshman Cory Wells, with 10 points, was XULA’s other double-figure scorer.

Jhamario Bassett led Southeastern Baptist — from Laurel, Miss., and a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association — with 10 points.

XULA led 11-10 before pulling away for a 38-25 halftime lead. XULA’s biggest lead was 31 points when Nigel Allen’s 3-pointer made it 77-46.

“I’m happy for our program to be playing again,” said fifth-year head coach Alfred Williams, whose team won Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships last season but was denied competition at NAIA nationals because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s a blessing to be back on the court. Had some first-game jitters because of 10 new players, but we’ll figure things out and clean things up. The best thing we did was cause turnovers.”

XULA gained 35 turnovers, 21 on steals, TJ Jones, who shared GCAC Freshman of the Year honors last season, had five steals and eight assists.

XULA’s next game will start at 7:30 p.m. next Wednesday at home against Carver. It’ll be a doubleheader; the XULA women will play at 5:30 p.m. against Carver.