Gold Rush defeat SUNO 75-66 to reach GCAC title game
March 4, 2011

Box score

     JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Chris Iles and Devin Andrew scored 14 points apiece Friday, and Xavier University of Louisiana made 10-of-10 free throws in the final 76 seconds to secure a 75-66 men's basketball victory over SUNO in the semifinals of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.
     The Gold Rush (27-4), ranked 17th in NAIA Division I and seeded second in the tournament, will play 13th-ranked and top-seeded Tougaloo for the championship at 2 p.m. EST Saturday. The winner will receive an automatic bid to the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship.
     Tougaloo defeated Edward Waters 69-67 in the first semifinal.
     Wanto Joseph added 13 points and Denzell Erves 10 for Xavier, which took the lead for good, 15-12, at 9:55 of the first half on Jamaan Kenner's 3-pointer, his only shot of the game. Xavier led 30-26 halftime, and four Gold Rush players scored during a 10-1 run which gave XU a 62-51 lead with 2:36 remaining.
     Iles made 3-of-3 3-pointers. Cordell Hadnot, Erves and Andrew grabbed five rebounds apiece to lead Xavier.
     Brent Leduff scored 38 points, 23 in the second half, for SUNO (11-14), and Christopher Palmer had 11 points and seven rebounds. Leduff made six 3-pointers and 16-of-18 free throws.
     Xavier outshot SUNO 56.8 to 36.7 percent from the floor. In the second half the Gold Rush shot 61.9 percent and made 18-of-22 free throws.
     SUNO made its first four shots from the floor, three by Leduff, then missed 11 in a row and went 3-of-20 in the final 17 minutes of the first half.
     "This was a survival game," XU Coach Dannton Jackson said. "I thought we responded well against a feisty SUNO team. I was proud of the way our guys played."
     Xavier and Tougaloo split their two-game regular-season series, with the home team winning by double-digits both times. This will be Xavier's 10th appearance in a GCAC Tournament final and first since 2008. The Gold Rush haven't won the championship since 1996. Tougaloo will make its second appearance in a GCAC final and first since 1989, when it lost to William Carey.