SAVANNAH, Ga.- Joshua Montgomery hit two free throws with 27 seconds left in overtime and Savannah State went on to defeat Jacksonville 73-70 in Tiger Arena.
 
The crowd of 1,445 saw the Tigers win their home opener for the seventh year in a row s well as win their first game of the 2011-12 season.
 
SSU only made only field goal in the overtime period but Montgomery hit all four of his free throw attempts.
 
The Tigers led 70-68 with 1:16 left and Montgomery's two free throws with 27 seconds left iced the game for SSU and gave them a 72-68 cushion.
 
A layup by JU's Aloys Cabell cut SSU's lead to 72-70 but a free throw by Rashad Hassan with 14 seconds left gave the Tigers a 73-70 advantage.
 
Cabell missed a 3-pointed with eight seconds left. Delwin Graham grabbed the offensive rebound but missed a dunk and SSU's Cedric Smith rebouned Graham's missed with two seconds remaining.
 
Hassan was one of four Tigers who finished in double figures with 14 points. Preston Blackmon added 11 points and  six assists while Jyles Smith and Montgomery chipped in 10 points apiece.
 
Savannah State led by as many as seven in the first half before Jacksonville rallied to take a 26-25 lead with 6:28 on the clock.
 
With the score tied at 30, the Tigers used a 6-0 run to take a 36-30 edge with 54 seconds left in the half as Montgomery hit a 3-pointer and Richard Conner made a layup followed by a Montgomery free throw.
 
Glenn Powell made a pair of free throws for the Dolphins with 36 seconds left but Conner made a layup with four seconds remaining to send the Tigers into the half with a 38-32 lead.
 
Jacksonville sliced SSU's lead to 45-44 with 1:55 left but the Tigers used a 7-0 run to grab their largest lead of the night after a 3-pointer by Blackmon.
 
SSU (1-2) would lead by as many as eight twice more with the last time coming at he 3:21 mark as Smith made two free throws.
 
JU would rally to  take a 63-62 lead with 1:04 on he clock as Chris Davis buried a 3-pointer.
 
Arnold Louis made a free throw to tie the game at 63 with 43 seconds left for SSU. JU's Russell Powell gave the visitors a 65-63 lead with a jumper with 11 seconds on the cock but Louis sent the contest into a extra period with a jumper with one second left.
 
Cabell led JU (0-2) with a game-high 22 points while Graham had 17 points and 10 rebounds.
 
SSU shot 41.8 percent from the floor. While the Dolphins shot 55 percent from the field in the first half and 52.6 percent in the second frame, they slipped to only make 2 of 9 shots in overtime.