SAVANNAH, Ga.- Savannah State saw their double digit lead dwindle down to one point but the Tigers held on as they snapped their two game losing streak with a 92-88 win over visiting South Carolina State.

The Tiger Arena crowd of 2,710 saw SSU's 61-51 lead with 16:37 left crumble to 69-68 with 10:18 remaining, thanks to a 17-8 run by the Bulldogs.

The Tigers led by five with seven minutes left only to watch SC State close their gap to 76-75 with 5:43 remaining. Savannah State answered with a 7-2 spurt where Romani Hansen nailed a 3- pointer and Zach Sellers added a layup and two free throws to increase their advantage to 83-77.

With 1:55 showing, Savannah State held a 88-81 lead but the Bulldogs responded with a 3-pointer by Jahmari Etienne and a pair of free throws by Ian Kinard to make the score 88-86.

A layup by Savannah State's Zaquavian Smith with 1:28 left put the Tigers back up by four but a dunk by Damni Applewhite cut the South Carolina State deficit to 90-88 with 1:13 left.

The Bulldogs had their chances to tie the game in the closing seconds but missed a trio of shots under the basket. Following Rayshwn's missed jumper, Sellers grabbed the rebound and threw the outlet pass to Smith who made a fast break dunk with 11 seconds left to seal the Tigers win.

Sellers had a career-night in the Tigers victory. The Cheraw, South Carolina native had ten field goals and 29 points, both career-high's for the junior guard.

Smith matched a career-high with 20 points off the bench while Collins Joseph contributed 10 points. Tyrell Harper came off the bench to chip in a team-high eight rebounds to go with his six points and five assists.

Savannah State (5-14, 2-3 MEAC) led 25-23 with 8:44 left in the first period and used a 13-4 run to get some separation as they expanded their lead to 38-27 with just over six minutes left.

The Tigers led by as many as 13 in the first half and carried a 53-45 lead into intermission.

SSU shot 58.1 percent from the field in the first half and 53.3 percent for the game. The Tigers hit 7 of their 14 3-point attempts in the opening period and finished the game shooting 39.3 percent. Savannah State made 17 of their 21 free throw shots (81 percent).

South Carolina State (4-18, 2-4 MEAC) had five players in double figures. Ozante Fields led the way with 16 points.

The Bulldogs out-rebounded SSU 43 to 31 while shooting 42.4 percent from the field, 31.6 percent from beyond the arc and 83.9 percent from the free throw line.

TIP INS:
  
*  Zach Sellers extended his streak of scoring at least two points in a game to 50 games
 
* The 92 points scored by SSU was the most since scoring 97 points against Tennessee Tech on November 13, 2018


* SSU leads the MEAC in made 3-pointers, steals and assists.

* Tyrell Harper (120), Jaquan Dotson (119) and Romani Hansen (109) each have over 100 rebounds on the season.


* Newcomers Andrew Okorodudu, Christian Carson and Joseph Boykin joined the team after the Christmas break