HATTIESBURG, Miss.- Preston Blackmon scored a career-high 26 points to help Savannah State snap their 13-game losing streak with a 74-65 win over Southeastern Louisiana in the first game of the Hardwood Club Holiday Tournament hosted by Southern Mississippi at Reed Green Coliseum.

Joshua Montgomery added a career-high 22 points and Jovonni Shuler scored 10. Jyles Smith pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds in the victory.

The Tigers (2-13) shot 54.8 percent from the floor and 64.3 percent from 3-point range .

SSU did not make a field goal the final 7:48 but made 15 of 17 free throw attempts in the second half.

Savannah State led 6-4 early in the game but extended their lead to 12 points with 12:47 on the clock with a 12-2 run.

The Lions cut their deficit to 24-20 with 5:46 remaining but a 8-2 mini-run by SSU gave the Tigers a 10-point advantage with 4:27 left.

SSU led 40-29 at the break as Blackmon knocked down a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

SELU trailed 40-33 early in the second period but nine unanswered points by the Tigers gave them their biggest lead of the evening at 49-33 with 16:05 left.

With just under 15 minutes left, the Lions started a 12-0 run that closed their gap to 51-47 with 11:56 remaining.

After a 10-2 run by SSU, the Tigers went ahead by 12 and eventually held a 65-51 lead with just under seven minutes left.

The Lions put together a a 14-3 surge to make it a 68-65 contest with 1:30 remaining but Savannah State scored the final nine points of the game to walk away with the win.

SELU (5-5) was led by David Ndoumba's 20 points and 7 rebounds.