Box Score SAVANNAH, Ga.- Although Savannah State trailed at the half, the Tigers bounced back to take a 42-38 lead early in the second period after a layup by freshman guard Jeremiah Hill.
 
Hampton would answer with a 17-3 run and went on to defeat SSU 80-71 in Tiger Arena before a crowd of 2,010.
 
The loss snapped a five game winning streak as well as gave the Tigers their first conference loss of the season.
 
Hampton's run gave the visitors a 55-45 lead with 11:35 on the clock.
 
On a few occasions, SSU would whittle their deficit down to five but the Pirates lead would eventually grow to 11 with the last time being at the 1:38 mark.
 
Trailing 74-63, Savannah State cut the Pirates lead to 76-71 with 38 seconds left but could get no closer as HU would end the contest with four free throws by Breon Key.
 
Hampton led 15-4 in the first half  but SSU closed their gap to 18-14 with 11:44 remaining following a jumper by Patrick Hendley.
 
Seven unanswered points increased the Pirates lead to 11 and a pair of free throws by Deron Powers pushed the SSU deficit to 33-21 with 4:58 left on the clock.
 
Savannah State held Hampton to one field goal the final five minutes of the half as the Tigers tied the score at 34 with 17 seconds left after a free throw by Deven Williams.
 
DuVaugh Maxwell's layup with two seconds left sent the Pirates into the half with a 36-34 advantage.
 
A layup by Jyles Smith tied the game at 36 to start the second half.
 
With the contest knotted at 38, layups by Saadiq Muhammad and Hill gave the Tigers a 42-38 lead, with 17:24 left.
 
Hampton countered with a 10-0 run to go ahead 48-42 with just over 15 minutes remaining.
 
The Tigers (7-13, 5-1) had four players in double figures.
 
Hill had 15 points followed by Khiry White's 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Smith contributed 10 points and 8 rebounds while Alante Fenner added 10 points off the bench.
 
Maxwell had a game-high 21 points  and 9 rebounds for the Pirates (9-10, 4-2).
 
Ke'Ron Brown, a Savannah native, had 9 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists for the Pirates.
 
SSU finished the game shooting 40.9 percent from the floor but 55.5 percent from the free throw line. Hampton shot 40 percent from the field and made 28 of 44 free throw attempts. The Pirates out-rebounded Savannah State 47 to 42.