Mobile Men Fall At Home To Xavier

MOBILE, Ala-- The University of Mobile men's basketball team fell 57-66 to 13th-ranked Xavier University-Louisiana in non-conference NAIA action Thursday at Pharr Gym. Mobile is now 24-6 at home the past two seasons.

Donte Walker led the Rams with 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while Ji Kimbrough chipped in 13 points. Anthony Simmons led Xavier with 14 points, while Kevin Miller chipped in 13.

Xavier out shot Mobile in all areas. The Gold Rush hit 48% from the floor, 38% (3-8) from 3-pt range and 78% (21-27) from the free throw line, while Mobile hit 39% overall, 14% (2-14) from 3-pt range and 70% (19-27) from the charity stripe.

The teams battled to a 27-27 tie in the first 20 minutes with nine lead changes, though Xavier looked like it would enter the break with the momentum. They led 27-71 with 1:13 to play, but Kimbrough tallied 4 points down the stretch, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 27-27. Mobile's largest lead of the half was 4-0, but Xavier scored the next seven points and held the lead much of the half.

Xavier's Kevin Miller converted a 3-point play just 23 seconds into the final half and the Gold Rush never trailed from there. The closest Mobile got in the half was 31-32 with 17:58 to go on a 3-point play from Bentley Hylton. From there, Xavier used a 18-7 run over the next 7:25 to grab a 12-point lead. They led by as many as 13 points the rest of the way and Mobile never got closer than seven points.