Youngstown’s Collins leads USF to CBI title

CHICAGO

David Collins had 19 points and eight rebounds as South Florida beat DePaul 77-65 on Friday night for the College Basketball Invitational championship.

Collins, a sophomore for the Bulls, is a Youngstown native who attended Ursuline, but finished his high school career at First Love Christian Academy in Washington, Pa. His mother, Dorothy Collins, is Youngstown State’s career scoring leader in women’s basketball.

USF made three 3-pointers in a four-minute span to take the first double-digit lead of the second half at 57-47, and extended it to a 14-point advantage after an 8-0 run. The Bulls led by double figures for five-plus minutes until Max Strus made three free throws at 1:06 to pull to 71-64. Xavier Castaneda sealed it with two free throws at 40.4.

Justin Brown had 12 points for South Florida (24-14), which was picked to finish last in the preseason American Athletics Conference coaches’ poll. Laquincy Rideau added 10 points. Antun Maricevic had seven rebounds for the visitors.

Devin Gage had 19 points for the Blue Demons (19-17), who never led in the game. Strus added 16 points. Femi Olujobi had 14 points and 10 rebounds.