SAVANNAH, Ga.- The Savannah State men's basketball team earned their 20th win of the season with a 62-50 victory over North Carolina A&T at Tiger Arena.
 
The crowd of 2,940 saw the Tigers improve to 20-10 overall and 13-2 in the MEAC.
 
Deric Rudolph scored a game-high 15 points, all in the first half, to lead SSU.
 
A&T led 5-4 early in the game but a 3-pointer by Ruldolph started a 10-0 run by the Tigers that gave the home team a 14-5 edge with 16:29 on the clock.
 
Down 16-7, Jared Williams hit back to back 3-pointers as the Aggies put together a 12-2 run to take a 19-18 lead with 13:13 left in the half.
 
That ignited a 17-5 rally by the Tigers which was started by a Rudolph 3-pointer and gave SSU a 35-24 lead with 4:13 remaining.
 
SSU led by as many as 15 in the opening half and led 42-28 at the break.
 
A layup by Jyles Smith gave SSU a 46-27 lead with 17:57 left and a jumper by Rashad Hassan pushed the Tigers advantage to 53-34 with 11:11 remaining.
 
The Tigers had their biggest lead of the evening at 56-36 after a Stephen Wilson free throw with 9:16 left in the game.
 
A&T answered with nine straight points to get within 11 but back to back 3-pointers by Preston Blackman gave SSU a 62-45 lead with 3:50 left.
 
Blackman added 14 points and six assists for the Tigers while Smith grabbed 10 rebounds.
 
Williams came off the bench to pace the Aggies (12-18, 7-8) with 12 points.
 
SSU, who is on a 12 game winning streak, shot 45.7 percent from the field in the opening period but dipped to 27.6 percent in the second half. A&T shot 35.3 percent from the floor for the game.
 
Savannah State, who was held without a field goal the final 3:50, out-rebounded the Aggies 40 to 36.
 
 The last Savannah State team to win 20-games in a season was the 1980-81 squad which went 25-4, won the SIAC Division III championship, the NCAA South Regional Championship and the NCAA Division III South Quarterfinal runner up. That same team, under coach Russell Ellington, won 15 consecutive games before losing to Otterbein College.