SAVANNAH, Ga.- Adam Saeed came off the bench to score a game-high 24 points to lead Savannah State to a 97-83 win over visiting Tennessee Tech in a game played at Tiger Arena.
 
Saeed, who transferred to SSU from Shawnee Community College, played 23 minutes and made 9 of 14 shots from the field and all four of his free throw attempts in addition to grabbing five rebounds and getting two steals.
 
The non-conference win was the Tigers second in a row after starting the season with two losses.
 
Zaquavian Smith chipped in 20 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals while Tyrell Harper had 19 points, eight rebounds and seven steals.
 
Savannah State led by six at halftime but blew the game open in the second half.
 
With the score 52-45 with just over 16 minutes remaining, the Tigers used 3-pointers by Smith, Jahlin Smith and Romani Hansen to fuel a 9-2 run to expand their lead to 61-47.
 
SSU (2-2) led by double digits the rest of the way and their leave never dipped below 11.
 
A layup by Zaquavian Smith gave Savannah State their largest lead of the night at 80-60 with 7:57 remaining.
 
The Eagles answered with nine straight points to get within 80-69 but SSU countered with a jumper by Collins Joseph, two free throws by Harper and a layup and a free throw by Saeed to push their advantage to 18 at the 5:09 mark.
 
Tennessee Tech jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the contest.
 
Down 17-13, SSU scored ten unanswered points to go ahead 23-17 with 11:50 left.
 
With 8:12 remaining in the first half, a dunk by Micaiah Henry closed the Eagles gap to 25-24 but Savannah State responded with a 3-pointer by Harper and a layup by Saeed to go up by six.
 
Tennessee Tech trailed by as many as seven in the first half and were down 42-36 at intermission.
 
Hunter Vick had 22 points for TTU (0-3)
 
TIP INS:
 
*Zach Sellers has scored at least two points in 35 straight games
 
*Both teams were perfect from the free throw line in the first half. SSU was 5 for 5 while the Eagles were 1 for 1
 
*SSU won the rebounding battle 57 to 36
 
*Both teams had 22 assists and 23 turnovers
 
* SSU reserves outscored Tennessee Tech bench players in the first half 20-0