Strong Second Half Lifts Bulls Past Laval
QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC, AUGUST 5, 2019 –
Mayan Kiir scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead USF to an 89-73 victory over Laval University Monday night in the second game of the team's Canadian Foreign Tour.
Kiir finished 5-for-8 from the field and was a perfect 2-for-2 from three-point range and 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
Alexis Yetna (Paris), who lead the American Athletic Conference with 15 double-doubles last season, finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds to help USF hold a 45-30 advantage on the glass.
Sophomore guard
Ezacuras Dawson III (Miami) made his USF debut and scored 14 points to go along with four rebounds and two assists.
Madut Akec (Bradenton, Fla.),
David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) and
Michael Durr (Atlanta) also finished in double figures for USF.
Sidney Lacombe led Laval with 24 points and three steals, while Christian Redmond scored 17 points and had four assists off the bench.
After trailing for the majority of the first half, USF used a 28-11 run at the end of the second quarter and into the third quarter to turn a three-point deficit into a 14-point lead. Laval cut the USF lead to eight points with 1:28 left in the third quarter, but five straight points from Akec and a dunk by Durr at the buzzer pushed the lead back to 15.
USF would go on to lead by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter en route to its second win of the week. On Sunday, the Bulls defeated the University of Quebec 71-66.
USF takes Tuesday off before returning to game action Wednesday at 7 p.m. against Carleton.
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About USF Men's Basketball
The USF men's basketball team is led by head coach Brian Gregory. On March 22, 2017, Gregory was introduced as the 10th head coach in program history. He previously led programs at Georgia Tech (2011-16) and Dayton (2003-11). Gregory spent nearly a decade as an assistant coach under Michigan State's Hall of Fame head coach Tom Izzo and helped the Spartans win the 2000 NCAA National Championship. Gregory owns nearly 250 career head coaching wins and six postseason appearances, including the 2010 NIT Championship. In his second season at the helm of the Bulls, Gregory led the team to the best win turnaround in the NCAA, the most single-season wins in school history and the 2019 College Basketball Invitational championship.
USF has retired three numbers in its 47-year history: Chucky Atkins (12), Charlie Bradley (30) and Radenko Dobras (31). The Bulls have earned three NCAA tournament bids, appeared in the NIT eight times and won the 2019 College Basketball Invitational.
For tickets, contact the USF Ticket Office at 1-800-Go-Bulls or by going online to USFBullsTix.com.
