Gold Rush loses again in California tournament
November 29, 2008

Box score

     IRVINE, Calif. — Travis Noble and Chris Johnson scored seven points apiece Saturday during a second-half run which rallied Montana State-Northern to a 78-65 men's basketball victory over Xavier University of Louisiana in the Concordia Thanksgiving Tournament.
     Noble finished with 27 points and Johnson 22 for the Lights (10-3). Harold Cleveland scored a season-high 13 points for Xavier (6-2), and Shaun Dumas had 12.
     Xavier was 0-2 in the tournament and lost on consecutive days for the first time since a California trip in December 2004. MSU-N was 1-1 in the tournament.
     The Gold Rush, No. 14 in Victory Sports Network's NAIA Divison I rankings, rallied from a 12-point deficit to take a 53-51 lead on Landon Bussie's basket with 9:10 remaining. But Noble and Johnson keyed a 16-3 run during the next six minutes to give MSU-N a 67-56 lead, and Xavier never came closer than six points thereafter.
     The Lights, one of four teams to earn a share of the Frontier Conference regular-season championship in 2007-08, were 9-of-16 from 3-point range and made 29-of-33 free throws. The Lights were 7-of-8 from the line in the final 48 seconds.
     Cleveland — playing in his home state and scoring in double figures for the fourth consecutive game — made a basket at 10:39 of the first half to give Xavier its biggest lead, 10-4. But Johnson's jumper capped a 9-1 run which gave MSU-N a 13-11 advantage, and the Lights led 31-27 at halftime.
     Xavier made 22-of-28 free throws and outshot MSU-N 50 to 46 percent from the floor. Xavier's defense produced a season-low three steals one day after collecting a season-high 18. The Rush did not record its first steal until 4:59 of the first half.
     Concordia defeated MidAmerica Nazarene 81-73 in Saturday's second game and was the tournament's only 2-0 team. MidAmerica Nazarene, which beat Xavier 72-63 on Friday, was 1-1.
     Xavier's next game will start at noon Saturday against Paul Quinn at The Barn. It will be the final Gold Rush home game before Jan. 15.