March 24, 2010 | AP Press

ST. LOUIS – Kwamain Mitchell scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half, leading Saint Louis to a 69-59 victory over Princeton on Wednesday night in the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational.

The Billikens (23-11) will play Virginia Commonwealth (25-9) in the best-of-3 championship series beginning Monday.

Mitchell triggered a 16-4 run over the final 7:25 of the first half to put Saint Louis ahead to stay, 38-29.

Willie Reed added 20 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for the Billikens, who won for the 11th time in 14 games. It was his ninth double-double this season.

Kareem Maddox paced Princeton (22-9) with 16 points and Douglas Davis added 14. The Tigers had their six-game winning streak snapped.

The 69 points were the second-most given up by the Tigers this season. Princeton entered allowing an NCAA-low 52.8 points per game.