NEW ORLEANS, La-- The University of Mobile men's basketball team fell 66-69 at Xavier University in non-conference action Tuesday evening.

Mobile (4-2) visits Southern Wesleyan Friday at 7:30 pm.

Kwame Beard led the Rams with 21 points, Chris Richardson added 14 points and Dominick Brumfield finished with 10 points and 12 boards. TJ Simon had 6 assists for the Rams.

Anthony Simmons led a trio of Xavier players in double figures with 17 points, while Wanto Joseph had 14 points and 8 boards.

The Rams out shot Xavier 46% (11-24) to 0% (0-8) from 3-point range, but Xavier held a 68% (19-28) to 56% (9-16) edge from the charity stripe.

Xavier led from start to finish in the game, starting with a Simmons bucket 1:03 into the game. The Rams cut it to 2-1 on a free throw from Marcus Polnett, but Xavier went on a 9-2 run to build an 11-3 lead. The Rams again pulled within one with 2:16 remaining in the half, but Xavier finished by scoring the final five points of the period to take a 35-29 lead into the break.

In the final half, the Rams trailed 58-51 with 4:34 to play, but Mobile used an 8-2 run to pull within 60-59 with 2:40 to play after four-straight points from Cody Scott. Xavier answered with five-straight points. The Rams pulled within three with 19 seconds on a Beard free throw, but Xavier answered with a pair of free throws. Mobile again pulled with three with 11 seconds to play, but a 3-pointer at the buzzer fell short.