Dec. 6, 2007

NEW ORLEANS -- Mark Stewart scored 13 points Tuesday (Dec. 4) as the  Xavier University of Louisiana men's basketball team defeated Texas Wesleyan 63-52 at The Barn and gave head coach Dannton Jackson his 100th coaching victory.

Jackson, in his fifth season at Xavier, is 100-41. This is the fourth time during his tenure that the Gold Rush started 9-1.

Stewart had 10 points in the second half and scored seven in 46 seconds to give Xavier a 51-37 lead with 6:28 remaining. The Rush led by 18 earlier in the half. Alfred Williams and Kelechi Okoroha scored 10 points apiece for Xavier, and Jarrel Lake had eight points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Fred Eshon scored 18 of his career-high 23 points in the second half for Texas Wesleyan (3-3), which has a two-game losing streak. Kennith Gober scored 12.

Texas Wesleyan scored the first two points and held Xavier scorless for nearly five minutes, but the Rams never led again. Shaun Dumas scored all five of his points during a 12-0 Xavier run which put the Rush ahead to stay at 23-11 with three minutes remaining in the first half.

The Rush led 25-16 at halftime and held a double-digit lead for nearly 18 minutes of the second half. The teams combined for 52 personal fouls and 41 turnovers. Xavier outshot Texas Wesleyan 50 to 33 percent from the floor.

Xavier, ranked 10th in NAIA Division I, has a three-game winning streak and is 8-0 at home this season. The Rush has won 24 of its last 28 games, including 16 of 17 at The Barn.

Xavier's next game will start at 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 29 against Texas A&M International in the Texas A&M-Kingsville Holiday Tournament at Kingsville, Texas Texas Wesleyan will play its Red River Athletic Conference opener at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Bacone.