BALTIMORE, Md.- Morgan State broke open a close game by out-scoring Savannah State 27-7 in the second half as the Bears posted a 44-17 homecoming win over SSU.

The 14,356 fans at Hughes Stadium saw MSU lead 17-10 at the half but a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter expanded their lead to 31-7 and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter gave the Bears a 27-point cushion with 8:23 remaining.

The loss drops Savannah State to 1-5 and 1-2 in the MEAC while Morgan State improves to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the MEAC.

MSU scored on their second drive of the game as Seth Higgins threw a 59 yard touchdown pass to Andre Nelson with six minutes left in the first quarter. Ervin Gonzalez added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

Savannah State's Simon Heyward returned the kickoff 34 yards to the SSU 46. From there, the Tigers marched 54 yards in seven plays as A.J. DeFilippis threw a 30 yard touchdown pass to Heyward with 1:48 left in the quarter. Derek Williams' extra point tied the game at 7-7. The big plays on the drive were nine-yard rushes by Dylan Cook and Justin Babb.

The Bears went ahead 14-7 with 10:13 left in the second quarter when Higgins tossed a four yard scoring pass to Chuka Okakpu.

SSU cut their deficit to 14-10 when Williams booted a 47 yard field goal with 3:30 left in the half. The big play on the drive was a 11 yard run by Chris Strong.

Just before the half, Morgan had the ball at the Tigers' 36. Higgins threw back to back passes to Tyrone Hendrix to set up a 36 yard field goal by Gonzalez with five seconds remaining to send the Bears into the half with a 17-10 advantage.

With 13:04 left in the third quarter the Bears led 24-10 after Higgins threw a 34 yard touchdown pass to Nelson and  with 9:12 left in the quarter, Robert Council threw a 52 yard scoring pass to Lamont Bryant for a 31-10 lead.

Late in the quarter SSU found its way back on the scoreboard when DeFilippis scored on a one yard run to cap a four play, five yard drive. The drive was set up when Morgan State had a bad snap on a fourth and eight from their own 38. The bad snap cost MSU 33 yards and gave the Tigers a first and goal from the MSU five yard line.

Okakpu caught a 12 yard touchdown pass with 14:26 left in the game and Travis Davidson scored on a 19 yard run with 8:23 remaining to give Morgan State a 44-17 edge.

SSU never got past the Morgan State 37 in the final quarter.

DeFilippis passed for 141 yards for SSU but threw two interceptions and was sacked three times. Babb ran for 16 yards on 22 carries and Thomas Akalan caught five passes for 57 yards. Broadric Sellars had 12 tackles for the defense.

Davidson ran for 58 yards for the Bears while Higgins passed for 239 yards and four touchdowns. Nelson had three catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns and Allen Stephens had eight tackles.

Morgan State had 430 yards of offense while the Tigers had 188.

SSU had 10 penalties for 104 yards and the Bears had nine for 108 yards.