Wiley prevails in overtime to snap Gold Rush win streak
December 13, 2009

Box score

     MARSHALL, Texas — Alexander Cossey scored 21 points Sunday to lead Wiley to a 67-61 men's basketball victory over Xavier University of Louisiana in the Wiley Classic.
     The Wildcats (4-5) won their third in a row, including both games in this event. They snapped the five-game win streak of the Gold Rush (8-2).
     Devin Andrew had a season-high 18 points for Xavier and scored the final points of regulation, a 3-pointer which tied the score at 58 with 15 seconds remaining.
     Ryan DeRousselle scored a season-high 11 points for Xavier.
     DeRousselle's two free throws at 4:18 of overtime gave Xavier its final lead, 60-58. Wiley went ahead to stay at 62-60 when Marquis Wright made two free throws at 3:13, and Harold Cleveland's second-chance 3-pointer with 43 seconds remaining made it 65-61.
     Cleveland, who played for Xavier in the fall of 2008 before transferring out, scored 14 points. Uros Pavlovic added 11 for the Wildcats.
     Neither team led by more than six points. Xavier's biggest lead was 15-10 when Jeremy Mansel scored during the eighth minute.
     Xavier, which closed the first half with eight consecutive points to take a 33-32 lead at the break, outshot Wiley 41 to 36 percent from the floor. But the Wildcats made nine more free throws and committed six fewer turnovers.
     Both Xavier losses this season are in overtime.
     The Gold Rush finished 1-1 in this event. Texas College, which lost to Xavier on Saturday, beat SUNO 93-89 in overtime in Sunday's opening game.
     Xavier will resume its schedule after Christmas in Florida with two games in the Miami Gardens Classic. The next game will start at 7 p.m. EST (6 p.m. New Orleans time) on Dec. 28 against Florida Memorial. Wiley's next game will start at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at home against Texas Wesleyan in the Red River Athletic Conference opener for both teams.