Gold Rush gets defensive in home victory vs. Paul Quinn
December 6, 2008

Box score

     NEW ORLEANS — Shaun Dumas, Kelechi Okoroha and Olumide Olafioye each scored 11 points Saturday to lead Xavier University of Louisiana to a 58-40 men's basketball victory over Paul Quinn at The Barn.
     Dumas, who scored all his points in the first half, added seven assists and three steals to help the Gold Rush (7-2) end a two-game losing streak. Okoroha had seven rebounds and a career-high five blocked shots.
     Xavier outshot Paul Quinn 42 to 25 percent from the floor and allowed its fewest points in a game since a 116-27 home victory over Wesley (Miss.) on Nov. 15, 2004.
     Joseph Cormadelle led Paul Quinn (2-7) with eight points. The loss was the Tigers' fifth in a row and their second in as many days.
     The Gold Rush scored the first four points and did not lose the lead thereafter. Xavier led 31-21 at halftime and had its biggest margin, 54-33, when Cordell Hadnot scored a basket with 6:11 remaining.
     Paul Quinn started two 7-foot juniors, Ronald Ogoke and Carl Nelson, but Xavier — with no starter taller than 6-7 — outrebounded the Tigers 34-28 and had a 7-2 advantage in blocked shots.
     Xavier is 7-0 this season at The Barn and has a nine-game winning streak in its campus venue. The victory was the Rush's 10th in a row over Paul Quinn, which has not beaten Xavier since the 1991-92 season. The teams will meet again Dec. 30 in Paul Quinn's HBCU Classic in Dallas.
     Xavier's next game will start at 3 p.m. (time change) on Dec. 14 at Wiley. Paul Quinn's next game will start at 8 p.m. on Dec. 15 at home against LSU-Shreveport.