SAVANNAH, Ga.- Bethune-Cookman's defense rose to the occasion in the final two minutes with a goal line stand and two interceptions to seal a 34-24 win over Savannah State in T. A. Wright Stadium.

Trailing 27-24 with two and a half minutes left, the Tigers faced a fourth and goal from inside the B-CU one but a quarterback sneak by Kurvin Curry did not work and the Wildcats kept their lead.

SSU received the ball back with 1:56 remaining at their own 34 but Michael Williams spoiled the Tigers evening when he intercepted Curry's pass and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown with 42 seconds left.

The Tigers got the ball again with 40 seconds on the clock at their own 29 but once again Curry was intercepted as Tavaris Bell picked off the pass at the Bethune 21 and returned it 47 yards to the SSU 21 to seal the victory.

The loss drops Savannah State to 1-5 while Bethune improved to 2-4.

Curry passed for 174 yards and a touchdown and ran for 67 yards and two touchdowns for Savannah State. Deleon Hollinger caught five passes for 56 yards and Deron Talley hauled in three catches for 80 yards. Antwan Allen led the defense with nine tackles.

Ryan Lewis led the Bethune defenders with nine stops. Offensively, Fred McCaskill rushed for 109 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Matthew Johnson passed for 65 yards and Reams JeVaughn caught two passes for 48 yards.

The teams played fairly even with the Wildcats getting 346 offensive yards and SSU getting 340.

The Wildcats led 14-0 in the first quarter with a 6 yard touchdown run from Johnson and a 62 yard touchdown run from McCaskill.

With 31 seconds left before the half, Curry scored on a 16 yard run to cap a 9-play, 56 yard drive for SSU. Derek Williams added the extra point to slice SSU's deficit to 14-7. Javares Taylor had a key 15 yard reception on the drive.

SSU scored 10 unanswered points in the third quarter to take a 17-14 advantage.

Jevontae Jefferson returned the second half kickoff 42 yards to the B-CU 37 to give SSU good field position. It took the Tigers just five plays to score as Curry threw a two yard touchdown pass to Justin Babb with 12:35 left in the quarter. A 21 yard reception by Babb was the key play on the drive which set up a first and goal from the two yard line.

With 6:35 on the clock, Williams booted a career-high 40 yard field goal to give the Tigers a three point advantage. A 47 yard reception by Talley was the key play on the 6-play, 45 yard drive.

The 10 points were the first points scored by the Tigers in the third quarter this season.

McCaskill added a five yard run early in the fourth quarter to give the Wildcats a 20-17 lead. The extra point was blocked by SSU.

Curry scored on a 8 yard run with 9:13 left in the game to put SSU in front 24-20. The 10-play 80 yard drive was highlighted by 23 and 18 yard receptions by Byron Leggett and a 18 yard run by Babb.

Bethune took the lead for good with 6:58 remaining when Jonathan Moment scored on a one yard run.

During the pre-game, SSU president Earl Yarbrough presented Shannon Sharpe with his #2 jersey, which was officially retired earlier in the afternoon. Sharpe also did the game's coin toss.