The Cable guy pulls plug on Xavier, 66-63
February 16, 2008

Box Score

NEW ORLEANS — Jeremy Cable scored 20 of his 32 points in the second half Saturday to rally Tougaloo to a 66-63 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball victory over NAIA No. 8 Xavier University of Louisiana at The Barn.

The Bulldogs (16-9 overall, 10-4 GCAC) trailed 25-5 through 10 minutes and 37-27 at halftime, then shot 58 percent from the floor in the second half to grab their first two-game regular-sweep of Xavier since the 1995-96 season.

Cable made three free throws with 35.4 seconds remaining to give Tougaloo a 64-63 lead. After Alfred Williams missed a shot in the lane for the Gold Rush, Cable made two more free throws with 3.7 seconds remaining for the final points. Xavier's Olumide Olafioye missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Tougaloo outscored Xavier 14-5 in the final seven minutes. Cable scored 10 points in that run, including the Bulldogs' final seven.

Keithdrick Harris scored 16 points and Jermaine Hodges 14 for Tougaloo, which has a three-game winning streak.

Williams had 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Xavier (20-6, 10-4). Shaun Dumas and Dannie Woods each scored 14 points, and Olafioye scored 10.

For the game Xavier outshot Tougaloo 53 to 45 percent from the floor. The Bulldogs committed six turnovers, none in the final 13 minutes.

The defeat was the second at home in three days for Xavier, which lost 71-55 Thursday to GCAC leader and NAIA No. 3 LSU-Shreveport.

Tougaloo climbed into a third-place tie in the conference with Xavier, and Mobile — a 69-54 winner on the road against SUNO — took sole possession of second place at 11-3, two games behind LSUS.

The Rush and Bulldogs will play GCAC opponents at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Spring Hill will visit Xavier, and Tougaloo will travel to Mobile.