Box Score BALTIMORE, Md.- Demarcus Bryant only played for five minutes but he made them count as the freshman from Tifton, Georgia hit a 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds left to help Savannah State defeat Coppin State 73-70 in a game played at the physical Education Complex.
 
It was the Tigers first road victory of the season as they improved to 2-7 in the MEAC and 6-17 overall.
 
CSU trailed by seven at the half but a 3-pointer by Christian Kessee pulled the Eagles within 41-37.
 
Savannah State answered with eight straight points to earn their largest lead of the night at 49-37 with 16:27 remaining.
 
SSU led by 11 at the 14 minute mark but the Eagles used a 10-2 run to make the score 55-52 with 9:24 on the clock.
 
A 3-pointer by Sterling Smith got Coppin within 65-63 with just over four minutes left but back-to-back layups by Alante Feener and Brian Pearson gave the Tigers a six-point advantage with 2:19 left.
 
Coppin responded with a 7-1 run to tie the game at 70 with 32 seconds left.
 
After a SSU timeout, Terel Hall dished the ball to Bryant and the reserve guard drilled home the game-winning shot. Bryant finished the game making all three of his 3-point attempts and had nine points.
 
A 3-point attempt at the buzzer by CSU's Arnold Fripp missed.
 
Pearson led Savannah State with a career-high 17 points. Saadiq Muhammad came off the bench to add 10 points. Fenner, who scored nine points, had a team-high six rebounds while Hall and Keierre Richards had five assists apiece.
 
SSU out-rebounded the Eagles 28 to 25.
 
The Tigers finished the contest shooting 63.8 percent from the floor but were only 9 of 19 from the free throw line.
 
CSU (5-19) was led by Smith's 27 points.
 
The Eagles shot 43.6 percent from the floor but made 12 of 17 of their 3-point attempts.
 
In the first half, Coppin jumped out to a 14-8 lead. After a layup by SSU's Khalen Pinkett sliced their deficit to four, Smith made a 3-pointer to extend Coppin's lead to 17-10 with 13:24 on the clock.
 
Savannah State pulled within one but a mini-run by CSU increased the Eagles advantage to 25-18 with 9:11 left.
 
A 7-0 run by the Tigers tied the score at 25.
 
The score was tied again at 34 but SSU finished the half with another 7-0 run as Bryant hit a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left to make the score 41-34.
 
The contest had eight lead changes and three ties.
 
TIP INS
Savannah State: The Tigers broke a three game losing streak as well as won their first road game of the season in 16 tries
Coppin State: The Eagles have a diverse roster with the 14 players coming from eight different states as well as one from Nigeria.
 
UP NEXT
Savannah State will begin a four-game home stand against South Carolina State on February 14.
Coppin State will host Howard for their Homecoming game on February 14.