CHARLESTON, S.C.- Savannah State got off to a fast start but could not maintain it in a 52-27 loss at Charleston Southern, in a game played at Buccaneer Field before a crowd of 3,156 fans.

It was the final non-conference game of the season for the Tigers (0-7).

Both squads scored on both of their possessions in the first quarter.

Charleston Southern scored the first touchdown of the contest on a 16 yard run by Ronnie Harris with 10:57 left in the quarter. The Tigers answered with a 20 yard field goal by Giovanni Lugo with 5:19 on the clock to make the score 7-3 after SSU's drive stalled at the Buccaneer three yard line.

Key plays on the 13 play, 60 yard drive were receptions by Derek Kirkland (19 yards), Cameron White (32 yards) and Jerry Kicklighter (10 yards) from D'Vonn Gibbons.

It took CSU four plays to score on their next possession as Saire Davis caught a 45 yard touchdown pass from London Johnson with 3:40 on the clock for a 14-3 advantage.


The Tigers closed within 14-10 with one minute remaining in the first quarter when Uriah Oliver caught a 20 yard touchdown pass from Gibbons to cap a six play, 69 yard drive. Lugo's extra point attempt was good. A 22 yard catch by D'Andre Sneed as well as a 15 yard roughing the passer penalty on the CSU defense that gave Savannah State a first down at the Buccaneer 22 were key plays on the drive.

A fumble recovery by SSU freshman linebacker Tyqueze Johnson  at the Buccaneer nine resulted in the Tigers taking a 17-14 lead with Jaylen McCloud scoring his first collegiate touchdown from the two yard line with 13:22 on the clock.

CSU knotted the game at 17 on their next possession after a 42 yard field goal by Tyler Tekac and took a 31-17 lead into intermission following a six yard touchdown run by Taz Lindsay and a 11 yard touchdown reception by Davis.

Charleston Southern fumbled the ball on their first possession of the second half and it was recovered by Tiger defensive back Donald Rutledge, a transfer from The Citadel, at the CSU 17.

Savannah State could not punch it into the end zone and had to settle for a Lugo 32 yard field goal with 13:54 left in the quarter.

The Bucs scored touchdowns on the next two possessions to increase their lead to 45-20 with 3:38 remaining in the third quarter.

Isaiah Bennett, a SSU defensive back, recovered a CSU fumble at the Buccaneer 40 and returned it 19 yards to the 21 but Tiger quarterback David Handler threw a interception.

The Buccaneers turned the SSU turnover into points as Chanin Hamilton scored on a nine yard run with 10:22 left in the game.

Kirkland caught a nine yard touchdown pass from Gibbons with 12 seconds left for the final points of the evening.

Charleston Southern (4-3) had 527 yards of offense while the Tigers had 214.

Once again the Tiger running game could not get on track as they were held to 24 yards on 24 carries.

Oliver ran for 19 yards on nine carries for SSU, Gibbons completed 11 of 21 passes for a career-high 162 yards and two touchdowns and Kirkland caught four passes for 36 yards. Rutledge had a game-high 13 tackles while Johnson was in on 10 tackles..

Johnson led Charleston Southern's triple option offense with 117 yards rushing and 219 yards passing while throwing four touchdowns. Kameron Brown had three receptions for 74 yards. Soloman Brown and Zane Cruz had six tackles each.