Xavier Men’s Basketball are 2023 conference tournament champions

March 17, 2023

By Joan McCarty, Sports Writer

The Gold Rush won the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) for the third time in four years. The conference win earned the team an automatic bid to this year’s National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) nationals that took place on Mar. 2, 2023.

Although the Gold Rush were unsuccessful at taking the national title, they capped a record season with a total of 22 wins and 8 losses to win the 2023 Red River Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament. After an initial tough loss at the Xavier Convocation Center against Paul Quinn College with a score of 67-70 on Feb. 18, 2023, the team had to take some time to practice and evaluate to be ready for the next game.

“Practicing hard after every loss is how we bounced back,” said Lance Williams, a sophomore guard from Baton Rouge, La. “Coach always said ‘it’s not about the loss, it’s about how you bounce back from the loss’ and to take every practice as serious as the game. The losses humble you and make you go harder.”

On Feb. 24, Xavier’s team traveled to Alexandria, La. to compete in the RRAC for the weekend Feb. 24-26. The Gold Rush came back with a bang in the first game of the conference against the University of the Southwest Mustangs with a score of 94- 59 for the quarterfinals on Feb. 24.

“Being a team player and just lifting my brothers up,” said Kaleb Huggins, a freshman, forward from Zachary, La. “They needed encouraging words to keep them going and teamwork helped them through that block to win,” Huggins said.

In the second game of the conference, the team won again against Texas A&M-Texarkana with a score of 72- 64 for the semifinals on Feb. 25. This was a big win for the team since they had lost their first game against Texas A&M-Texarkana in January for RRAC qualifiers.

“Guys bought in. Meaning everyone came together as a team and realized what they all needed from each other in order for us to be successful,” said assistant coach Ed Carter, a graduate assistant, from Detroit, Mich. “Sometimes it can be difficult to accept a role as a player, but it is important to be selfless as a player for the whole team.”

In the final game of the conference, Xavier went up against LSU- Shreveport on Feb. 26. Previously in the season the Gold Rush lost twice to the Generals. In the championship game, Xavier took the win with a score of 79-63.

The team traveled to Caldwell, Idaho for their first game of nationals. They played Hope International on Mar. 6. The Gold Rush came out on top with a score of 95- 57. The team’s season ended on Mar. 8 when they played the number one NAIA college team in the nation, the College of Idaho. The Gold Rush fell with a score of 61-76.

“Our defense was the main factor leading us to the championship,” said head coach Alfred Williams. “We had a goal at the beginning of the year to finish top 10 in the country and we finished seventh in the country with a three-point percentage defense,” Williams added.