SAVANNAH, Ga.- Brian Pearson hit two free throws with 21 seconds left and Savannah State went on to defeat Arkansas State 76-75 in a non-conference game played at Tiger Arena.
 
The Tigers improved to 3-0 with the victory in a game that featured nine ties and ten lead changes.
 
SSU led by six with just under eight minutes remaining in the second half but the Wolves put together a 9-0 run to go ahead 69-60 with 5:36 left.
 
Back to back layups by Charles Waters gave ASU a 75-72 edge with 2:16 on the clock.
 
The Wolves would not score again before the crowd of 1,440.
 
Troyce Manassa made a layup with 1:04 left to pull the Tigers within one.
 
After Sean Gardner missed a layup for Arkansas State, Khalen Pinkett got the defensive rebound for the Tigers.
 
Following a SSU timeout, the Tigers worked the ball inside to Pearson where he was fouled by Waters.
 
Pearson sank both free throws which would turn out to be the game winners.
 
Manassa led four SSU players in double figures with 19 points. Chris Martin, who hit 5 of 6 of his 3-point attempts, finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. Lenjo Kilo added 14 points and 10 rebounds while Casey Wells contributed 11 points.
 
Arkansas State (1-2) jumped out to a 22-9 lead in the first period.
 
The Tigers found themselves down 10 with 9:52 remaining in the half but a 13-1 run gave SSU a 30-28 lead with x minutes on the clock.
 
ASU led by three with 2:43left but Savannah State ended the period with a 8-1 spurt and took a 43-39 lead into the half.
 
Savannah State led by as many as six early in the second half before the Wolves used a 8-1 run to take a 53-52 lead with 13:23 remaining.
 
Anthony Livingston had 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolves.
 
SSU shot 41 percent from the field while Arkansas State shot 50.8 percent. The Tigers made 45 percent of their 3-point shots while ASU made 22.2 percent.
 
Savannah State edged the Wolves in rebounds 38 to 37.