HAMPTON, Va.- Savannah State went the final 4:56 without a field goal but made all eight free throw attempts in a 65-49 win over Hampton. It was the first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game for the Tigers who improved to 3-5 overall and 1-0 in the conference.

The crowd of 2,653 in the Hampton Convocation Center saw SSU's Deric Rudolph hit five 3-pointers as he scored a game-high 21 points.

Savannah State made 50 percent of their field goals in the first half while Hampton struggled in the second half, making only 6 of 24 shots from the floor.

The contest was tied at six but a 13-3 run by the Tigers gave SSU a 19-9 lead with 10:39 left in the first half.

SSU increased their advantage to 29-14 with 6:58. The Pirates got as close as nine with a 6-0 spurt but Savannah State reclaimed their 15-point cushion with 2:01 on the clock when Arnold Louis hit a free throw to make the score 37-22.

The Tigers led 39-26 at the break.

Hampton started the second half with a 10-0 run to cut their deficit to 39-36 but SSU answered with a 3-pointer from Rudolph and a layup by Jyles Smith to go ahead 44-36 with 13:35 remaining.

The Pirates trailed by seven with 9:19 on the clock but could get no closer as Preston Blackmon hit a jumper and Smith made a free throw for Savannah State to push their lead to 53-42.

A pair of free throws by David Bruce got Hampton back within nine but a 8-0 run by the Tigers gave SSU a 61-44 lead with 2:30 left.

SSU grabbed their biggest lead of the night at 65-47 after two free throws by Rudolph with 1:12 remaining.

Rashad Hassan scored 17 points and had eight rebounds for SSU while Blackmon contributed 11 points.

Hampton (3-4, 0-1) received a 15 point effort from Darrion Pellum while Bruce grabbed 13 rebounds.

SSU made 53.3 percent of their 3-point attempts and shot 83.3 percent from the free throw line.

The Pirates missed all 12 of their 3-point shots