SAVANNAH, Ga.- Freshman forward Robert Kelly had a career-high 26 points and 11 rebounds to lead Savannah State to a 104-91 win over Bethune-Cookman, in a game played at Tiger Arena.
 
The 6-foot-7 Kelly, who also had two blocks and two steals, made all 11 of his shots from the field, all three of his free throw attempts as well as nailed a 3-pointer.
 
The win gives Savannah State, who entered the contest losers of seven of their last eight games, a 1-0 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference record.
 
It was the fourth time this season the Tigers have scored at least 100 points in a game.
 
SSU scored the first six points of the game, getting a layup and free throw from Kelly and a 3-pointer from Dexter McClanahan.
 
The Tigers led 10-5 before B-CU strung together nine unanswered points to grab a 14-10 lead with 16:28 on the clock.
 
A 3-pointer by Brandon Tabb gave the Wildcats a 23-15 lead with 14:17 remaining in the first period but SSU rallied to tie the game at 25.
 
With the contest knotted at 29, Bethune went ahead 41-33 with 7:17 on the clock, after another 3-pointer by Tabb.
 
Savannah State rallied to tie the game at 45 and went ahead 59-49 with 45 seconds left in the half, following a trio of free throws by Casey Wells.
 
SSU led 59-51 at the half.
 
The first half featured five ties and four lead changes.
 
A 3-pointer by Zach Sellers to open the second half gave SSU a 11 point lead and a layup by Kelly increased the Tigers lead to a dozen, 66-54, with 18:29 remaining.
 
Bethune was able to slice their deficit to five but Savannah State used a 15-5 run to secure their largest lead of the night, 87-69, with 8:22 showing on the clock.
 
SSU led by double digits the rest of the way and the Wildcats could get no closer than 11.
 
Troyce Manassa added 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Tigers (4-10). McClanahan scored 18 points while Sellers chipped in a career-high 16 points.
 
Savannah State shot 47.6 percent from the field, including 50 percent in the second period.
 
The crowd of 901 saw the SSU reserve players outscore the Bethune bench players 19-2. The Tigers added 24 points off of B-CU turnovers.
 
Bethune-Cookman (3-11) out-rebounded the Tigers 52 to 44 while shooting 42.9 percent from the floor.
 
Tabb led all scorers with 30 points.