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Savannah State University Athletics

1
54
Benedict BEN 11-8,9-5 SIAC
58
Winner Savannah St. SSU 13-5,11-3 SIAC
Benedict BEN
11-8,9-5 SIAC
54
Final
58
Savannah St. SSU
13-5,11-3 SIAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Benedict BEN 27 27 54
Savannah St. SSU 31 27 58

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Tigers Escape Benedict; Remain No. 1 In SIAC East

SAVANNAH, Ga.– In a battle to the final second, Savannah State and Benedict vied for first place in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) East Division on Wednesday in Tiger Arena.
 
The Tigers pulled out the slim 58-54 win over Benedict in a rematch of the 2022 SIAC Championship game—in which SSU routed the Tigers from Columbia, S.C.
 
Wednesday, however, was no rout for Savannah State. The 11-win Benedict team, hot on their trail in the standings, came into Tiger Arena looking to oust SSU and get some revenge for last year's championship game.
 
Benedict started the game by dropping three's and soon had a six-point lead, 12-6. Just after the first media timeout, Za'Khari Cobb hit a free-throw and Zion Davis sank a three-point jumper to spark a little run for the Tigers. Andrew Okorodudu made a second-chance layup and the game was tied up at 12 all.
 
But the Tigers from Columbia, S.C. answered with another run for a four-point lead. Savannah responded with some tough defense. From 11:24 to 3:05, Benedict didn't score a single basket. But SSU did. By the 3:05 mark, the Tigers had a 29-19 lead.
 
Benedict then got some baskets to drop and closed the gap on SSU's lead down the stretch. At the half, SSU led by four points, 31-27. The Tigers scored 16 points off turnovers in the first half. Benedict scored none. The visitors had 14 turnovers in the opening half.
 
Into the second half, Savannah State held onto their lead, but not by much as Benedict stayed right with them for 19 minutes.
 
With 3:05 to play in the game, Benedict's Brandon Beildeman made two good free-throws to get his team within one point of SSU's lead, 50-51.
 
Over the next minute, the game was decided at the charity strip. Ayjay Plain made two good free-throws. Then Beildeman made two good free-throws.
 
With 2:20 ticking away, Eleik Bowles hit a three-point jump shot putting some distance between the teams. Benedict cut the lead again to two points with a good field goal on their next possession.
 
After an SSU turnover, Benedict came down the court. A seemingly obvious double dribble was negated by a quickly called timeout from the visitors. They held onto possession with 28 seconds to play, down 54-56. 
 
Benedict's Brandon Smith missed a three-point jump shot and the ball bounced out of bounds, giving the Tigers possession with 7 seconds.
 
Bowles got the toss and was fouled. He made one free throw and missed the second. But freshman Chancellor Wilson came up with the rebound, to the cheers of the home crowd, and passed to Plain, who was fouled.
 
Plain missed the first free-throw, but made the second, all but sealing up the four-point win for Savannah State as time expired.
 
The narrow win saw three Tigers finish in double figures. Bowles led the field with 15 points on the night. Plain racked up 12 and Cobb tacked on 11.
 
Savannah State hits the road this weekend for a quick rematch with Benedict on Saturday in Columbia, S.C. On Monday, they head back to Columbia to play Allen.
 
The Tigers return home on Feb. 4, hosting Clark Atlanta on Senior Day. Tip-off is 2 p.m. for the doubleheader in Tiger Arena.
 
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