SAVANNAH, Ga.- A 7-0 run midway in the second half gave Savannah State the spark they needed as the Tigers improved to 2-0 with a 53-45 win over Central Connecticut State at Tiger Arena before a crowd of 1, 133.

The Tigers held a five point lead early in the second period but a trio of free throws by CCSU's Robby Ptacek cut Savannah State's lead to 30-28 with 16:44 on the clock.

SSU answered with back to back layups from Rashad Hassan and Tracy Rankins to increase their lead to six but a jumper by Ptacek followed by a layup from Shemik Thompson made the score 34-32 with 11:40 left.

That is when Savannah State put together seven unanswered points.

Hassan got things going with a layup. After a rebound by Rod Mitchell and a media timeout, freshman Darius Baugh hit a jumper. Rankins ended the spurt with a 3-pointer that gave the home team a 41-32 lead with 9:01 remaining.

CCSU (0-2) closed within five but another run by Savannah State that ended with a dunk by Hassan gave the Tigers a 48-38 cushion with 3:56 on the clock. The visitors never got closer than six points the rest of the way.

Hassan led SSU with 11 points and seven rebounds while Rankins added 10 points and six rebounds.

Dating back to the 2008-09 campaign, SSU has now won five straight games.

The Tigers, who led from start to finish, held a six point advantage in the first half but CCSU rallied to trim their deficit to 14-13 with 12:31 on the clock. Layups by Hassan and Patrick Hardy followed by a dunk by Louis Arnold put SSU ahead by seven with 10:06 left in the half. CCSU got within 25-23 before going into the locker room trailing 27-23 at the break.

Thompson led Central Connecticut State with a game-high 12 points while Ptacek added 11.

SSU out-rebounded Central Connecticut 39 to 28.