TAMPA – Alexis Yetna registered his league-leading 14th double-double of the season and the USF men’s basketball team advanced to the finals of the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) with a 56-47 victory over Loyola Marymount Thursday evening at the Yuengling Center.
 
USF has now held five teams to fewer than 50 points this season. The Bulls have won three postseason games in the same season for the first time in school history.

Yetna scored 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and has posted a double-double in all three games of the tournament. Yetna moved into third place on the USF single-season rebound list with 318.

David Collins added 11 points and three steals to help the Bulls tie the single-season school record for wins. Collins has now made the second-most single-season free throws in school history with 193.

Mattias Markusson, James Batemon and Erik Johansson all scored nine points for Loyola Marymount. 

Johansson put Loyola Marymount ahead 17-10 with a three-pointer at the 8:44 mark of the first half, but USF responded with a 10-1 run to take a 20-18 lead after three free throws by Mayan Kiir (Bradenton, Fla.). Markusson scored in the final minute to tie the game at 22 heading into halftime. 

USF (22-13) used a 22-7 run to open the second half to build a 44-29 lead on a layup by Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) Loyola Marymount held USF without a field goal over the next 6:46 to cut the lead to three points with just under five minutes remaining. Collins ended the drought with an old fashioned three-point play to put the Bulls ahead by six.
 
Loyola Marymount (22-12) managed just two field goals over the final 6:33 as USF held its fifth opponent this season to under 50 points.

The Bulls went on a 22-7 run to take a 15-point lead midway through the second half. USF scored 32 points in the paint.

USF tied the single-season school record with 22 wins. The Bulls will play a game in the month of April for the first time in school history.

In total, USF has won 12 more games than it did all of last season.

USF will host DePaul Monday at 7 p.m. in game one of the best-of-three championship series. Games two and three (if necessary) will be played in Chicago at McGrath-Phillips Arena. USF is 18-4 at home against non-conference competition under head coach Brian Gregory.