By
New Orleans, LA – How fitting on Senior Night that
Jonathan Harper’s 26 points led the Xavier Gold Rush in an 81-80 overtime
victory over arch rival Dillard University Blue Devils in their annual “Crosstown
Classic” at the New Orleans Arena, Saturday night.
Xavierites made up most of
the 3,322 fans that came out for the highlight of the Xavier Family Weekend,
making it a “Barn-like” atmosphere for the men’s final regular season game.
As the action began, the
Rush exploded out of the gates scoring ten of the game’s first 13 points (10-3
at
“In previous games we have
been getting off to a slow start so I was excited about us jumping out to a
really quick start,” head coach Dannton Jackson said.
However, Dillard regrouped
quickly as they finally got going with a short 8-2 run to cut the lead to one
point (12-11) with
“We got a little relaxed
and let Dillard back in the game,”
Senior Chevis Brimmer began
to heat things up as he hit two three-point shots during a 15-5 Rush run,
midway through the half, to give Xavier a 12 point lead, 34-22. The Rush went
into the break with momentum and a 39-30 lead.
Both teams shot a little
over 41 percent from the field in the first half. However, one notable
difference was that the Rush had only three turnovers to Dillard’s ten.
In the second half, both
teams seemed a little sluggish as neither could find a rhythm in the first five
minutes of the period. The Blue Devils began to execute offensively and tighten
up their defense, and the Rush watched their lead go from 12 points to four
(47-43) with
Around the eight minute
mark, the game was tied for the first time since the start, on a lay-up by Blue
Devil Keydrick Williams. Two turnovers washed away a four-point Rush lead and
with 29 seconds left in regulation, Dillard tied the game at 69, resulting in
the first overtime period for Xavier’s men this year.
The overtime period was
dominated by Harper as he scored five of the Rush’s 12 points in the extra
session and sank a three-pointer with 46.4 seconds left, to give Xavier a 77-74
lead. The Rush never looked back as senior Michael Varnado hit four clutch free
throws in the waning seconds, to seal a one point 81-80 victory over a dejected
DU team.
“We have the ‘eye of the
tiger’ guys who wanted it more,”
Harper’s 26 points led the
Rush followed by fellow seniors Chevis Brimmer’s 12 points and four steals, and
Varnado’s 11 points and three assists. Freshman guard Shaun Dumas added an all
around performance of four points, seven assists and two steals.
Dillard had two players to
score 20 points with Dwayne Bastian scoring a game high 29 and Williams’ 20
points. Alfredo Ott added 18 points for the Blue Devils. Dillard completed its season with a
conference mark of 8-10 and an overall record of 13-13, for fifth place in the
GCAC.
Xavier, which won its last
10 out of 11 games, finished in third place in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference
with a record of 13-5 and an overall mark of 23-8. The Gold Rush will face sixth seeded
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