BOWLING GREEN Oh.- With the score tied at 49, Bowling Green out-scored Savannah State 10-2 down the stretch to defeat the Tigers 59-51 before 1,424 fans.

SSU trailed 48-42 with 7:02 left but rallied to take a one point lead when Tracy Rankins hit a 3-pointer with 3:58 remaining to make the score 49-48.

BGSU's Erik Marschall hot a pair of free throws to give the home team a 50-49 advantage with 3:37 on the clock.

BGSU ran their lead to six before Savannah State's Louis Arnold made a jumper to trim their deficit to 55-51 with 36 seconds left.

Scott Thomas and Otis Polk both made two free throws apiece for Bowling Green to seal the win.

Rankins, who hit 5-of-8 three point attempts, led all scorers with 24 points. Arnold added 13 points and nine rebounds for SSU (4-4).

The Tigers shot 40.4 percent from the floor but were out-rebounded 37 to 28.

Bowling Green led 4-0 before a 3-pointer by Darius Baugh got Savannah State on the scoreboard with 15:29 showing.

BGSU answered Baugh's shot with a 10-1 run to take a 10-point advantage with 10:21 on the clock.

Not to be outdone, SSU strung together a 15-4 spurt and led 19-18 with 5:35 remaining.

Bowling Green led 28-26 at intermission.

BGSU (3-3) led by five midway in the second period before Savannah State tied the game at 42 with just over eight minutes left.

Joe Jakubowski had 14 points for BGSU.