SAVANNAH, Ga.- If Savannah State's exhibition game against Thomas was any indication of how their 2018-19 season may go, then fans will not be disappointed in the Tigers game.
SSU had a double digit lead with four and a half minutes left and had to hold off a late rally by the Night Hawks but prevailed in a 111-107 victory at Tiger Arena.
The Tigers led by five with 5:11 remaining but back-to-back 3-pointers by Romani Hansen and Zack Sellers stretched their cushion to 103-92 at the 4:11 mark.
That ignited a 15-5 run by the visitors from Thomasville, Georgia that pulled them within 108-107 with 44 seconds remaining.
The crowd of 1,450 saw SSU hold Thomas scoreless the rest of the way while getting free throws from Tyrell Harper (one) and Jaquan Dotson (two) .
Harper had a double-double for Savannah State with 19 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
Hansen led the Tigers with 20 points and six rebounds while Jahlin Smith had 18 points and six rebounds, Zaquavian Smith added 15 points and four steals and Sellers chipped in 14 points, eight assists and five steals.
The visitors jumped out to a 13-5 lead after nearly three minutes of play but eight unanswered points by the Tigers knotted the game at 13.
SSU led 28-26 with just under nine minutes left in the first half. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Dotson and Hansen kick-started a 16-6 run that led to a 12 point advantage by the Tigers.
The Night Hawks were able to slice their deficit to 40-44 with 1:41 left.
Savannah State led 56-46 at intermission.
Thomas got within 66-62 with 14:34 left but consecutive 3-pointers by Hansen, John Grant, Harper and Sellers put the home team up by a dozen with just under 13 minutes left.
Brandon Kostyk led all scorers with 30 points, making ten 3-pointers for the Night Hawks. Joshua Scott added 22 points and 14 rebounds for Thomas.
TIP-INS:
*At one point in the game, SSU made seven straight 3-pointers. The Tigers finished the game with 23 made 3-pointers
*All ten of the SSU players that played scored at least three points
*Led by five from Sellers, the Tigers finished the game with 21 steals
*Thomas out-rebounded SSU 64 to 49
*Down 21-19, Jahlin Smith hit a 3-pointer for SSU with 10:54 left for a 22-21 lead. SSU never trailed again.
*SSU begins the regular season in SEC Country with trips to Texas A&M (Nov 7) and Georgia (Nov 9) before returning home to face Middle Georgia State (Nov 11)
