TALLAHASSEE, Fla.- Savannah State led from start to finish as the Tigers defeated Florida A&M 68-58 in the Lawson Center before 1,002 fans.

The Tigers, who shot 53.8 percent from the floor and 50 percent from beyond the arch in the second period, led by as many as 17 points before FAMU trimmed their deficit to nine with just under a minute remaining.

SSU jumped out to a 9-0 lead and it took almost three minutes for the Rattlers to score their first points.

FAMU was able to slice their deficit to two but Savannah State answered with a 11-0 run to push their lead to 24-11 with 9:23 left.

SSU's lead grew to 27-13 with just over seven minutes remaining but the Rattlers finished the half strong and trailed 30-26 at the break.

A layup by Rattler Jeremy Dean to start the second half made it a 30-28 game but SSU responded with a 11-0 run thanks to a trio of 3-pointers by Deric Rudolph that gave Savannah State a 41-28 lead with 17:33 left.

Savannah State maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way until Chris Watson's 3-pointer with 56 seconds left made the score 64-55.

Rashad Hassan had 17 points and 8 rebounds for the Tigers (8-9, 4-1) while Rudolph, who made five 3-pointers, finished with 16 points. Preston Blackmon had 12 points and 7 assists while Louis Arnold came off the bench to contribute 10 points and 8 rebounds.

Amin Stevens had 12 points and 10 rebounds for FAMU (3-15, 1-3). Dean also had 12 points and Yannick Crowder added 11 points.