Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) rallied past Philander Smith in stunning fashion on Saturday.
The No. 24 Gold Rush outscored No. 16 Philander 20-1 during the last 10 minutes. From the XULA athletic website, Junior Guard Morris Wright said, “Sometimes we find ourselves stuck in a hole, but we know how to get out if it.”
“Our team has a lot of fight in it,” Wright said, scoring 12 points on the night among two other teammates. “The defense picked it up in the second half, and the offense got better.”
Wright led the team in crucial moments in the game.
He scored 5 points during their rally past the Panthers to take the lead with one minute left, and his three pointer put the Rush up by 4 points.
Crashing the boards was important in XULA’s win over Philander. They out-rebounded Philander 18-6 in the final 11 minutes, and totally controlled the entire game at rebounding, 45-29.
The Panthers had dominated this season at rebounding, but XULA managed to beat Philander at their own game.
The Gold Rush obviously played great defense. Jarvis Thibodeaux had seven boards and a career-high two blocks. Aquil Baynard finished the game with just 8 points but entered this contest with 18.5 points per game. He struggled 3-11 from the floor and had a season-worst seven turnovers.
To make up for Baynard lack of scoring Philander shot terribly from the free throw line. They were 6-16 while the Gold Rush shot 14-19.
XULA will play Tougaloo on Monday. Tougaloo is undefeated after blowing SUNO out by 20.
A version of this article originally appeared on Xula.edu/athletics
