In their return to the floor following a 15-day hiatus, the Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) men’s basketball team came out on the winning side in its Thursday night contest against North Texas-Dallas.
The Gold Rush snapped a two-game losing streak, claiming a 73-62 win in their second Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) contest of the season.
In addition to improving to its conference record to 1-1 with the win, XULA moves above .500, jumping its overall record to 4-3.
The win coincided with the debut of former two-time HBCUAC Player of the Year Jamal Gibson, finishing with 16 points on 57% shooting from the field, eight rebounds, and three steals.
In a rare turn of events, Gibson joins the Gold Rush after playing six of the first seven games of this season with his former school Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO).
Two of the six games the former HBCUAC star played in came against XULA, both of which SUNO lost.
Xavier forward Elijah Tate led the team with a game-high 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting, connecting on five three-pointers.
After briefly trailing in the opening minutes of the game, the Gold Rush finished the first half on a 28-18 run to take a 39-30 lead into the second stanza.
This included a 20-point barrage by Tate, hitting three of his five three-pointers, in which he outscored UNT Dallas’ entire starting lineup 20-9 in the half.
While UNT-Dallas would start the second half on a 7-0 run, XULA would weather the early storm, building a 15-point lead and never relinquishing it on its way to victory.
Xavier will be back in action this Saturday, looking to keep its winning ways going when it goes on the road to face the University of the Southwest.
