No. 21 Gold Rush Hand Rams First Loss Of Season

MOBILE, Ala-- The 21st-ranked Xavier University-Louisiana Gold Rush defeated the University of Mobile 80-71 Monday at Pharr Gym in NAIA men's basketball action.

Mobile (2-1) will visit University of South Alabama Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 7 pm for an exhibition contest.

Xavier used balanced scoring and an edge at the free throw line to grab the win. They hit 28-of-37 from the charity stripe compared to 20-of-24 from Mobile, and all eleven Xavier players that dressed out, scored.

Each team shot 44% from the floor and turnovers were practically even at 20 for Mobile and 19 for Xavier, and neither team held an advantage from the 3-point line.

Ji Kimbrough led the Rams with 27 points thanks to a 14-of-14 effort from the free throw line, while freshman Jonathan Tinch tallied 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting off the bench. Matthew Turner finished with 7 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks for Mobile.

Kevin Miller led the Gold Rush with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while Wanto Joseph added 16 points. Nine different Xavier players got to the free throw line during the game.

The first half of the opening half saw the teams trade leads, and nobody led by more than one possession. The Rams grabbed a 19-18 lead at the 9:57 mark on a bucket from Turner, but Xavier answered with a 14-5 run to take a 32-24 lead with 5:48 left. Mobile answered right back as eight combined points from Kimbrough and Tinch sparked an 11-2 run to grab a 35-34 lead with 3:19, before Xavier finished out the period by taking a 44-41 lead into the break.

In the second half, Mobile never held the lead. The Rams started the half with a bucket by Turner to pull within 44-43, but Xavier answered with a 14-4 run to grab an 11-point lead with 14:12 left. From there, Mobile was only able to get as close as 62-57 with 9:28 left.