DURHAM, N.C. – The Savannah State University men's basketball team (13-14, 8-7 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) snapped its six-game win streak with a road loss to North Carolina Central University (12-17, 7-8 MEAC) 61-44 in McDougald-McLendon Arena Monday night.
 
Junior guard Troyce Manassa led the team with 10 points and added four rebounds and three assists, while senior forward Brian Pearson led the team with 10 rebounds and added five points.  Graduate student guard Christopher Martin added nine points and graduate student forward Lenjo Kilo added five points.
 
Savannah State shot 18.2 (4-for-22) percent from the floor in the first half, but shot 41.7 (10-for-24) in the second half for a total of 30.4 (14-for-46) for the game, while the Eagles shot 40.9 (9-for-22) from the floor in the first half and 50.0 (10-for-20) in the second half for a total of 45.2 (19-for-42) for the game. 
 
The Tigers won the opening tip and Kilo made a three-pointer to start the game to give SSU an early 3-0 with 19:35 remaining, but NCCU scored 16 of the next 19 points to take a 10-point lead, 16-6, at the 11:29 mark.  SSU scored five of the next seven points to cut the lead to seven, 18-11, but the Eagles scored the final nine points to take a halftime lead of 15, 26-11.
 
Just like the first half, the second half started off with a Kilo basket, this time a two-point jumper, followed by a Martin three-pointer to cut the lead to 10 points, 26-16, with 19:07.  An Eagle layup at the 18:47 mark, ended the 5-0 Tiger run and to begin an Eagle 8-0 run to take an 18-point lead, 34-16, with 18:03 remaining. 
 
The Tigers scored 12 of the next 16 points to cut the lead to 10 points, 38-28, with 13:15 remaining in the game.  After trading two made free throws by both teams to keep the margin at 10 points, 40-30, with 12:23 left, the Eagles scored the next five points to take a 15-point lead, 45-30, with 10:11 left.  The Tigers scored the next four points to cut the lead to 11, 45-34, at the 9:37 mark, but the Eagles scored the next four points to push its lead back to 15, 49-34, with 7:07 remaining. 
 
The Tigers cut the lead to the single digits by scoring eight of the next 10 points to cut the lead to nine points, 51-42, at the 4:01 mark forcing a timeout by NCCU.  An Eagle 3-pointer pushed the lead back to double digits to 12 points, 54-42, with 3:36 left, but two made free throws by Manassa cut the lead to 10 points, 54-44, at the 2:49 mark.  NCCU scored the final seven points to take home the 17-point win.
 
The Eagles were led by Patrick Cole with 16 points, while Dante Holmes and Jeremiah Ingram each added 15 points and Ingram added 15 rebounds for a double-double.  Cole added nine rebounds, while Dajuan Graf added seven points.
 
The Tigers return home for the final regular season game against Florida A&M (8-20, 4-11 MEAC) Thursday at 8 p.m. in Tiger Arena for Senior Day.
 
Newspaper Box Score
Savannah State vs N.C. Central
02/29/16 7:30 p.m. at Durham, N.C. (McDougald-McLendon Arena)
At Durham, N.C. (McDougald-McLendon Arena)
N.C. CENTRAL 61, SAVANNAH STATE 44
SAVANNAH STATE (13-14, 8-7 MEAC)
MANASSA,Troyce 1-5 8-10 10; MARTIN,Christopher 3-10 0-0 9; PEARSON,Brian 2-5
1-5 5; KILO,Lenjo 2-4 0-1 5; PINKETT,Khalen 2-4 0-0 4; IDRIS,Teslim 2-3 0-0
4; WILLIAMS,Kamil 1-5 1-2 4; WELLS,Casey 1-6 0-0 3; BAXTER,Jason 0-0 0-0 0;
MCCLANAHAN,Dexter 0-2 0-0 0; FELDER,Isaiah 0-0 0-0 0; JORDAN,Brandon 0-0 0-0
0; JENKINS,Javaris 0-2 0-2 0. Totals 14-46 10-20 44.
N.C. CENTRAL (12-17, 7-8 MEAC)
COLE,Patrick 4-12 7-11 16; INGRAM,Jeremiah 4-7 7-10 15; HOLMES,Dante 5-7 2-4
15; GRAF,Dajuan 2-5 3-3 7; WIGGINS,C.J. 2-4 0-0 4; BENTON,Kyle 2-4 0-0 4;
McALLISTER,Marius 0-0 0-0 0; HOOD,Enoch 0-1 0-0 0; CRAWFORD II,Kevin 0-0 0-0
0; MADISON,Rashaun 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-42 19-28 61.
Savannah State................   11   33  -   44
N.C. Central..................   26   35  -   61
3-point goals--Savannah State 6-23 (MARTIN,Christopher 3-10; WELLS,Casey
1-6; WILLIAMS,Kamil 1-5; KILO,Lenjo 1-1; JENKINS,Javaris 0-1), N.C. Central
4-8 (HOLMES,Dante 3-4; COLE,Patrick 1-2; MADISON,Rashaun 0-1;
INGRAM,Jeremiah 0-1). Fouled out--Savannah State-None, N.C.
Central-BENTON,Kyle. Rebounds--Savannah State 22 (PEARSON,Brian 10), N.C.
Central 44 (INGRAM,Jeremiah 15). Assists--Savannah State 8 (MANASSA,Troyce
3), N.C. Central 7 (COLE,Patrick 2; GRAF,Dajuan 2; WIGGINS,C.J. 2). Total
fouls--Savannah State 24, N.C. Central 20. Technical fouls--Savannah
State-None, N.C. Central-None. A-1427
 
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