The University of the Southwest Men's Basketball team was once again on the road to Louisiana, this time facing Louisiana Christian University and Xavier University of Louisiana in back-to-back games. The Mustangs were outlasted in both games, losing to LCU 69-85 on Thursday and XULA 58-76 on Saturday. 
 
Louisiana Christian University
 
Southwest (9-9, 5-6 RRAC), fresh off a thrilling 3-point victory of OLLU in their last conference matchup, were looking to get a winning streak started again. Thursday's matchup did not come against an easy opponent, as LCU (7-12, 3-8 RRAC) came into the matchup hungry to stop their own losing streak. 
 
A strong defensive showing for the Wildcats was the driving factor of the first half, and the Mustangs found themselves trailing 33-48. LCU would hold the Mustangs to just 42% shooting from the field and 0-9 from beyond the arc, which would aid them to their 15-point lead at the half.
 
The second half proved to be much more of the same story as the first half, with the Wildcats holding the Mustangs to only 36 points. The game's final score ended 69-85, snapping Louisiana Christian's three-game losing streak.
 
Sophomore Tyler Watkins scored 15 points to lead the way for the Mustangs in scoring. Graduate student Jamell Bradley was second on the team in scoring and third in rebounding, chipping in with 14 points and six rebounds.
 
Xavier University of Louisiana
 
Southwest (9-10, 5-7 RRAC) got to head down to New Orleans to take on their next conference opponent, Xavier (LA.), who came into the matchup with a record of (12-6, 7-4 RRAC). 
 
The Mustangs were shown why the Gold Rush home court record is 7-1 as they fell behind in the first half down ten and the score being 28-38. Southwest would only have a field goal percentage of 36% to Xavier's 50%.
 
Xavier would continue to show why they are near the top of the RRAC standings by continuing with solid offensive play in the second half. Matching their first-half score of 38, Xavier was able to hang on to the win and beat the Mustangs 76-58. 
 
Junior Jahvonta Jones found himself on top of the scoring charts for the Mustangs with 12 points. Graduate Jamell and Senior Tre Thomas each provided for the offense as well, with both of them shooting 50% from the three-point arc on their way to scoring 10 points each.
 
The Mustangs will be glad to be back in front of the home crowd with matchups Thursday against Texas A&M-Texarkana and Saturday versus Paul Quinn College back at the Jack & Mabel Maddox Student Life Center. Continue to follow USW Athletics and USW Men's Basketball on all social media for scores and updates throughout the season.