Those gathered at Scope Arena saw the Tigers trail by 17 with 13:25 remaining but use a 17-6 run to whittle their deficit to 54-48 with just over eight minutes left.
Delaware State ran their lead up to 11 with 3:22 showing but a 12-3 spurt by SSU pulled them within 69-67 with 15 seconds on the clock.
Jonathan Mitchell iced the game for the Hornets with a pair of free throws with eight seconds remaining.
DSU shot 46.2 percent from the free throw line in the second half and only made three of eight attempts in the final 1:41.
The loss ends the Division IÂ and MEAC era for Savannah State basketball. The Tigers won a share of the regular season title last year and was the regular season champ during the 2011-12 campaign.
Delaware State scored the first four points of the contest and led 7-2 with 16:27 left.
Savannah State (11-20) answered with eight straight points to take a 10-7 lead as Zaquavian Smith made two free throws and Jaquan Dotson made back to back 3-pointers.
Not to be outdone, the Hornets responded with a 12-0 run that put them ahead 19-10 with 9:27 remaining.
Down by seven with five minutes showing on the clock, SSU strung together a 7-2 mini-run to close their gap to 27-25 with 2:04 left.
The 11th seeded Hornets finished the first half with a pair of free throws by Ronald Lucas and a layup from Mitchell to go into intermission with a 31-25 lead.
Savannah State started the second half with two free throws by Romani Hansen and a layup and a free throw from Zach Sellers to cut the DSU lead to 33-30 but the Hornets answered with a 15-1 run to take a 48-31 lead with 13:25 remaining.
Tyrell Harper had 15 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Tigers. Smith had 15 points and seven rebounds. Dotson, who made four 3-pointers added 14 points and seven rebounds while Hansen had seven points to compliment his game-high 11 rebounds.
Sellers chipped in nine points and eight rebounds while Adam Saeed scored seven points to round out the scoring.
The Tigers, who were a six seed, shot 30.3 percent from the floor, 22.9 percent from beyond the arc and 82.6 percent from the charity stripe.
Kevin Larkin had 19 points and nine rebounds for DSU.
The Hornets (6-24) shot 33.8 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from the free throw line and 63.6 percent from the free throw line.
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*Â Zach Sellers extended his streak of scoring at least two points in a game to 62 games
* Savannah State won the rebounding battle 52 to 48
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* This was the last game in a SSU uniform for seniors Zaquavian Smith, Jahlin Smith and John Grant
* Collins Joseph, who was named to the MEAC All Rookie Team, was held scoreless.
* Savannah State defeated DSU 86-73 during the regular season
