Mississippi Valley State Tops South Florida 65-57

12/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Dec. 4, 2004

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Solomon Forbes scored 16 points, Hosea Butler added 10 points and 12 rebounds and Ronald Alexander blocked seven shots to help Mississippi Valley State beat South Florida 65-57 on Friday night in the opening round of the McCaffrey Classic.

Mississippi Valley State (2-2) advanced to Saturday's championship game against Fresno State, a 63-53 winner over Grand Canyon.

Terrence Leather had 20 points and 11 rebounds for cold-shooting South Florida (4-2), which missed 15 of its first 17 shots and ended up at 32.8 percent.

Leading 28-24 at halftime, Mississippi Valley State pulled away midway through the second half after a layup by Bulls guard Brian Swift tied it at 39.

Swift added 16 points and five assists for USF, which dropped its second straight game following a 4-0 start.