SAVANNAH, Ga.- Down by 15 midway in the second period, Savannah State strung together a 17-5 run but it would not be enough as the Tigers dropped their second straight game, in a 92-87 setback to Norfolk State.
 
The Tigers run pulled them to within three with 3:36 remaining but Norfolk State answered with a 8-2 spurt and SSU would not get closer than four points the rest of the way.
 
The loss drops Savannah State to 10-14 overall and 7-4 in the MEAC.
 
The Tiger Arena crowd of 1,305 saw SSU end the game shooting 27.7 percent from the field, make 19 percent of their 3-point attempts and get out-rebounded 60 to 45.
 
The contest had nine ties and nine lead changes.
 
A 3-pointer by Casey Wells gave SSU a 21-20 edge with 10:18 left in the first half but the Spartans responded with a 23-8 run to go ahead 43-29 with just over six minutes showing.
 
The Tigers began to whittle away at their deficit and used a 19-5 run to knot the score at 48 with 1:05 left.
 
The teams went into intermission tied at 48.
 
In the first half, SSU had 13 points off of 15 Norfolk State turnovers.
 
The first half of the second period was pretty much even.
 
A pair of free throws by Troyce Manassa gave Savannah State a 60-58 edge with 13:12 remaining.
 
Norfolk State answered with 17 straight points to take a 75-60 lead with 9:15 left.
 
A 3-pointer by Wells broke SSU's scoring drought as well as kick started a 17-5 run that got the Tigers within three with three and a half minutes remaining.
 
Manassa carried the load for Savannah State by scoring 20 of his game-high 27 points in the first half. Austin Dasent added 17 points, nine rebounds and three steals while Zach Sellers and Wells contributed 11 points each. Robert Kelly tied his career-high with 11 rebounds to go with his seven points.
 
NSU (11-13, 8-2 MEAC) won their seventh game in a row and had three players finish with at least 20 points. Zaynah Robinson had 25 points and seven assists, Jonathan Wade had 23 points and 13 rebounds and Kyle Williams had 20 points off the bench.
 
The Spartans shot 51.6 percent from the field.