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Savannah State University Athletics

1
62
Savannah St. SSU 14-14,8-9 SIAC
113
Winner Nova Southeastern Nova 29-0,19-0 Sunshine State
Savannah St. SSU
14-14,8-9 SIAC
62
Final
113
Nova Southeastern Nova
29-0,19-0 Sunshine State
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Savannah St. SSU 33 29 62
Nova Southeastern Nova 54 59 113

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Tigers Close Incredible Post-Season With Loss To Nova

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Savannah State men's basketball closed out one of the most unexpected seasons in program history.
 
The Tigers shocked the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) last week with a flawless run in the tournament that ended with an historic rout of Benedict in the Championship game. It was the first conference title for long-time head coach Horace Broadnax.
 
The post-season run ended for Savannah State on Saturday as they faced the best team in NCAA Division II, the undefeated Nova Southeastern. But the Tigers unexpected season isn't marred by the 51-point loss in the NCAA South Region Tournament opener.
 
The 2021-2022 Tigers have etched their names in the school's history books as well as the SIAC's records with an incredible post-season run worthy of praise.
 
Savannah State drew the No. 8 seed into the NCAA South Region Tournament after winning the 2022 SIAC Championship for the fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament in program history.
 
The 1978-79 Tigers defeated Albany in the first round of the tournament, then fell to Centre in the second round. The 1979-80 Tigers beat UNC-Greensboro in the first round and fell to Lane in the second. The 1980-81 team beat Rose-Hulman and Southwestern (now Rhodes College) for the regional title, but lost to Otterbein in overtime in the national quarterfinals.
 
At the beginning of the season, no one excepted this year's men's basketball team to be in the NCAA tournament. They opened the season with a 40-point loss to Saint Leo that started an 0-3 skid. But time and again they proved they were not the team people thought they were, forcing games into double overtimes and consistently beating opponents as underdogs.
 
Into the SIAC tournament, as the No. 3 seed out of the East Division, they strung together four consecutive wins for the first time this season to claim the title. They earned the right to play Nova.
 
But Nova is a machine this year. They are beating everyone by a 20 point margin, averaging 96.7 points a game. On Saturday, the Sharks opened against Savannah State with 17-0 run.
 
Savannah State finally got some offense moving on a good field goal from Ayjay Plain that sparked a 9-0 run for the Tigers, cutting Nova's lead to 17-9 with 9:43 to play. But the Sharks, playing on home court, would push back out to a double-digit lead a few minutes later and then a an even uglier lead five minutes later at 35-13.
 
By the half, Nova led by 21, 54-33, shooting 50 percent from the floor, and 89 percent from the free-throw line (17-for-19). Savannah State struggled to score in the second half. The Sharks put up 59 more points to the Tigers 29 for the final 113-62 score. Plain led the Tigers with 13 points in the loss while Avery Joyner tacked on 12 and Eleik Bowles put up 10 points.
 
The 2021-22 Savannah State men's basketball team will forever be remembered for their flawless SIAC Tournament run that landed the scrappy team rings and their names in the school record books—a well-deserved nod for a team no one expected to win, but did anyway. 
 
 
 
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