SAVANNAH, Ga.- Savannah State placed three players in double figures as the Tigers defeated crosstown foe Armstrong Atlantic State 74-57 in a exhibition contest played at Tiger Arena, before a crowd of 4,350.

Rashad Hassan led the way with 18 points followed by Preston Blackman's 13. Chris Spears came off the bench to chip in 12 points in 12 minutes of play.

Aric Miller, the son of former Savannah State football player Ernest Miller, led AASU with a game-high 24 points.

The Pirates led by four early in the contest but SSU battled back with 10 straight points to go ahead 16-10 with 12:24 on the clock.

AASU stayed within reach of the Tigers but two free throws by Arnold Louis and a layup by Cedric Smith put Savannah State ahead 29-19 at the 5:31 mark.

The Pirates answered with Miller scoring five points during a 7-0 spurt to close their deficit to three with 3:36 remaining in the half.

A 3-pointer by SSU's Devan Williams cooled down the Pirates and put SSU ahead by six.

SSU ended the first period with five unanswered points including a dunk at the buzzer by Jyles Smith to take a 40-29 lead into the half.

A layup by Miller cut the Tigers lead to nine early in the second half but after that it was all SSU.

SSU used a 11-4 run to go ahead 60-41 with 11:06 left.

The Pirates got as close as 14 but a 9-1 run gave Savannah State a 71-49 cushion with 5:27 on the clock.

Down by 21 with less than a minutes remaining, AASU finished the game with layups from Kelcey Walker and Eric Eversley.

SSU shot 59.1 from the floor in the first half and 48.1 percent for the game while the Pirates shot 37.5 percent from the field for the game.

The Tigers won the rebounding battler 45 to 31 and both teams made 18 turnovers.

Both squads were also cool from the free throw line with SSU making 21 of 38 attempts while AASU made 12 of 23 shots.

Louis led the Tigers with 10 rebounds while Hassan added eight. Jyles Smith ended the night with 7 rebounds, 5 points and 4 blocks.

Eversley had nine rebounds for the Pirates.