SAVANNAH, Ga. –The Savannah State and Morehouse College men's basketball teams are two of the most evenly matched teams in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), but only one team has Marcus Scott.
 
Last Monday, the Maroon Tigers slipped by SSU 67-62 in Atlanta, in a down-to-the-wire battle. It was the same story in a physical back-and-forth game on Saturday in Tiger Arena.
 
This time, however, Savannah State came out the victor beating Morehouse 73-66 as five Tigers put up double-digit numbers in the win.
 
Scott led the entire field with 22 points on the night going 5-for-13 from the field, 2-for-6 from the beyond the arc and 10-for-12 at the free-throw line. The freshman out of Hinesville, Ga. is averaging 15.7 points a game, trailing team leader Adrian Bonds. Bonds put up 12 in the win on Saturday and is averaging 18.4 a game this season.
 
Zion Williams had a strong game as well, putting up 13 point of his own. Avery Joyner was perfect on the day. He added 12 points to the stat sheet, going 4-for-4 from the field, 2-for-2 from beyond the arc and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. Stepping nicely into his new roll, newcomer Trey DeLoach added 10 for SSU.
 
Through the first half, Savannah State and Morehouse traded the lead several times and tied the game up on five separate occasions. DeLoach dunked on the buzzard to give the Tigers a 28-26 lead into the locker room.
 
It was the same story through the first few minutes of the second half, until SSU put on the scoring pressure. The Tigers opened a 12-4 run that included 3-pointers from Joyner, Williams and Scott, to take a 50-40 lead with 10:09 to play—the largest lead by either team of the entire game.
 
Then Morehouse put on a full-court press. The Tigers struggled against the powerful defensive effort, committing five consecutive turnovers as the Maroon Tigers opened a 13-0 run to take the lead.
 
With 7:06 to play, the game was tied for the seventh time on three good free-throws from Scott. At 53 all, Scott went to work.
 
Including his good free-throws to tie the game, the freshman put up 12 consecutive points on his own to shift SSU back into command of the game. Beyond Scott's solo 12-0 run, the Tigers led 62-53 with 2:04 to play.
 
The lead would hold through the final minutes, as the Maroon Tigers' offensive effort sputtered out and SSU kept hammering in free-throws and field goals. Scott hit four consecutive free-throws in the last 19 seconds for the 7-point final score.  
 
The physical game, with teams wrestling over 50/50 balls consistently, resulted in 36 fouls being called (24 on Morehouse). Together, both teams had double-digit turnovers and steals. SSU racked up 17 turnovers and 10 steals to Morehouse's 14 turnovers and 12 steals.
 
The Tigers shot 44.9% from the field, an average day for them. However, they racked up their best long-ball percentage of the entire season, shooting 51.9% from the beyond the arc, hitting 9-of-17 3-point attempts. From the free-throw line, they hit 60.6% of shots, going 20-for-33.
 
In a poor offensive outing, Morehouse managed a 36.1% clip from the field, and struggled with the long ball, hitting only 17% of 3-point attempts.
 
Savannah State improves to 6-10 on the season and 6-7 in the SIAC with the win. They sit in third place in the SIAC East Division, trailing Morehouse and Clark Atlanta who each have seven conference wins. Albany State leads the division with 10 conference wins.
 
The Tigers return to action on Monday against Albany State. The SIAC doubleheader begins at 5:30 p.m. with the Lady Tigers tipping off against the Lady Wildcats. The men's teams will play immediately after the women finish.