Joseph leads Gold Rush to victory at Spring Hill
February 4, 2010

Box score

     MOBILE, Ala. — Freshman Wanto Joseph scored nine of his career-best 18 points in the final 5:25 Thursday to help Xavier University of Louisiana hold on for a 71-62 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball victory over Spring Hill.
     The Gold Rush (13-9 overall, 4-6 GCAC) won its third in a row and defeated the Badgers (10-9, 4-6) for the first time in its last six tries. Spring Hill has lost four straight.
     Michael Harvey added 17 points, Devin Andrew 16 and Cordell Hadnot 10 for Xavier, which produced four double-figure scorers for the second time in three games.
     Marcus Coleman and Nick Brown scored 15 points apiece for Spring Hill.
     Xavier outscored Spring Hill 7-0 in the final 90 seconds, with Joseph — a 5-foot-9 point guard and a former O. Perry Walker High School standout — beginning the burst with a basket with 1:08 remaining and concluding it with two free throws with 11 seconds to play.
     Joseph, who entered the game shooting 50 percent from the line, made a season-best 8-of-9 free throws.
     Coleman, Spring Hill's career leader in 3-pointers made, scored just three points in the second half and was 1-of-6 from behind the arc after the break.
     Xavier trailed 22-15 through the first 12 minutes before a 10-1 run, capped by Harvey's 3-pointer at 3:57, gave the Rush its first lead, 25-23. Joseph and Harvey combined for all the points in a 7-0 run during the final 2½ minutes of the half which put Xavier ahead to stay and gave the Rush a 35-32 lead at the break.
     Xavier survived a stretch of nearly 11 minutes in the second half when it was 2-for-17 from the floor. The Rush made 17 second-half free throws to offset that cold spell and Badger rallies which trimmed XU's lead to one or two points three times in the final nine minutes.
     Xavier outshot the Badgers 45 to 41 percent from the floor and outrebounded them 35-28. The Rush grabbed all 11 of its offensive rebounds in the second half.
     The next Xavier contest will start at 7 p.m. Saturday against NAIA No. 5 LSU-Shreveport at The Barn in an NABC Coaches Against Cancer Game.