CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.- Savannah State battled back from a 26-point deficit but would come up short in a 86-71 setback to Jacksonville State.

The game was played at McKenzie Arena as part of the Cayman Island Classic.

JSU led by 23 at intermission and a 3-pointer by Jamall Gregory to start the second period gave the Gamecocks their largest lead of the evening at 52-26.

Down by 21 with 10:22 remaining, the Tigers used 3-pointers from Dexter McClanahan, Zach Sellers and Austin Dasent to pull within 76-65 with just under four minutes left in the contest.

Jacksonville State used a 7-2 mini run down the stretch to run their advantage back up to 16 to keep the Tigers at bay.

McClanahan had 22 points for Savannah State (1-3) while grabbing five rebounds. Dasent added 14 points and four rebounds while Sellers chipped in 12 points and seven assists.

SSU shot 36.4 percent from the field and made 11 of 42 of their 3-point attempts (26.2 percent). The Tigers converted 85.7 of their free throw shots (12 of 14).
Jacksonville State raced out to a 19-9 lead.

A layup by McClanahan at the 9:35 mark closed the Tigers gap to eight but JSU responded with 14 unanswered points to build a 43-21 cushion with 4:11 on the clock.

SSU trailed 45-26 after a layup by Dasent with 2:13 left but the Gamecocks closed the half with a pair of layups from Norbertsa Giga to take a 49-26 lead into the locker room.
Jacksonville State outscored the Tigers 22-4 in the paint in the first half.

Gregory led all scorers with 23 points.

JSU (3-1) struggled at the free throw line (55.6 percent) but shot 53.2 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from beyond the arc. The Gamecocks out-rebounded Savannah State 46 to 29.