SAVANNAH, Ga.- East Tennessee State broke open a close game with a big run to start the second period and never looked back in a 76-61 win over Savannah State.
 
The Tiger Arena crowd of 965 fans saw the Bucs take a 39-31 lead at the half.
 
ETSU opened the second half by scoring the first 11 points.
 
Savannah State did not score in the second half until Marcus Glenn made two free throws at the 15:57 mark to make the score 50-33.
 
The Tigers were held without a field goal until Alante Fenner made a layup with 13:53 on the clock.
 
ETSU answered with a 3-pointer by Devontavius Payne to give the visitors a 20-point lead at 55-35.
 
A layup by Austin Dasent got SSU within 60-45 with just over nine minutes remaining but the Bucs strung together a 7-1 run to go ahead by 21 with 7:02 showing.
 
SSU (0-2) closed their gap to 67-51 with a layup by Jahir Cabeza and a 3-pointer by Fenner with 6:09 remaining.
 
The Tigers got no closer than 17 the rest of the way until Dasent  nailed a 3-pointer with 32 seconds left to get SSU within 15.
 
Dasent led SSU with 12 points while Dexter McClanahan added 10. Cabeza and Ty'Lik Evans each chipped in nine points and Glenn had a team-high six rebounds.
 
Savannah State shot 30.9 percent from the field and only made 7 of 33 of their 3-point attempts.
 
In the first period, the Tigers jumped out to a 9-0 lead, getting two 3-pointers from McClanahan and one from Evans.
 
A pair of free throws by Evans gave SSU a 27-23 advantage with 5:58 left in the half but East Tennessee State closed the period with a 16-4 run and went into the locker room with a eight point lead.
 
Payne led all scorers with 28 points, making six 3-pointers. David Burrell grabbed 12 rebounds for ETSU.
 
The Bucs (1-1) out rebounded SSU 44 to 40 while shooting 43.1 percent from the field and 31.4 percent of their 3-point shots.
 
Both teams had 20 turnovers.