Box Score

SAVANNAH, Ga.- Tracy Rankins hit 5-of-7 3-point attempts and finished with a game-high 19 points as Savannah State downed South Carolina State in Tiger Arena.

 

The crowd of 1,008 saw the Tigers improve to 9-8 overall and 9-1 at home this season, in a game which neither team had a double-digit lead.

 

Anthony Jones and Jovonni Shuler each added 11 points for the Tigers.

 

SCSU fell to 6-8.

 

Jason Johnson led the Bulldogs with 17 points as he went 7-of-8 from the floor. He also had a game-high eight rebounds.

 

South Carolina State jumped out to a 4-0 lead but back-to-back jumpers by Jones tied the game early on.

 

SCSU led 14-13 but expanded their lead to 19-13 after a layup from Johnson and a 3-pointer by Carrio Bennett with 7:13 on the clock.

 

The Bulldogs held a one point lead with 3:30 left but Shuler hit a 3-pointer and Rashad Hassan hit a jumper to give the Tigers a 29-25 lead with 2:25 left before intermission.

 

With the score tied at 29, Jones nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send SSU into the half with a 32-29 lead.

 

Both teams were competitive in the opening 20 minutes as the Tigers shot 46.4 percent from the floor and hit five 3-pointers while SC State was 12-of-27 from the floor and was 4-of-4 from the free throw line.

 

SSU hit the first two field goals of the second half and a 3-pointer by Rankins gave the home team a seven point edge.

 

Leading 45-40, Rankins hit his fifth 3-pointer of the evening and Chris Linton added a free throw with 7:22 remaining to give SSU their biggest lead of the night, 49-40.

 

SCSU trailed by seven with thirty seconds left but battled back within three points when Johnson made a layup with 10 seconds remaining.

 

A free throw by Linton with eight seconds left iced the game for the Tigers.