SAVANNAH, Ga.-  Savannah State saw their season come to an end in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament quarterfinals after a heart-breaking 54-53 loss to Clark Atlanta in a game played March 7, 2024 in Tiger Arena.
 
The Tigers led 34-21 at the half and after trading baskets to open the second half of play, the Panthers strung together a 16-0 run that put them ahead 40-36 with 15:04 left in the game.
 
SSU used a pair of free throws from Qua King and a jumper by Austin Lewis to tie the game at 40.
 
After two free throws by CAU, Savannah State responded with a jumper by King, a 3-pointer by Ayjay Plain and a dunk by King to go ahead 47-42 with 10:50 remaining.
 
The Panthers took a 52-51 lead with 3:36 remaining but a pair of free throws by Plain at the 2:54 mark put Savannah State ahead 53-52.
 
The score remained the same until Chris Martin hit a short jumper for Clark Atlanta with six seconds remaining which forced SSU to call a timeout to with 4.7 seconds left to draw up a play for the last shot of the game.
 
With one second left, King attempted a short jumper but it missed and Chancellor Wilson grabbed the offensive rebound but could not get up a shot because time had expired on the clock.
 
Savannah State, who opened the tournament on March 5 with a 87-71 win over Kentucky State and took the number one seed in the SIAC East to the wire, ends their season with a 13-14 record. During the regular season, the Tigers had a 10-11 record in conference play.
 
Following the game, SSU head basketball coach Horace Broadnax gave a statement saying that "there was a lot of raw emotions in the game and we wish the remaining teams the best of luck."
 
Clark Atlanta head basketball coach Alfred Jordan praised Broadnax on a hard fought game.
 
"Hats off to coach Broadnax. I think he is a great coach. He made some key adjustments after we beat them twice during the season."
 
During the first half of the contest, Savannah State had the majority of the crowd of 2,780 behind them as they led by 13 points at one point.
 
Ahead 12-10, the Tigers scored the next nine points with a 3-pointer by Plain and layups by Jordan Mikel and Wilson.
 
Leading 27-21 with just under three minutes remaining, SSU closed the half with a 3-pointer by Plain and a jumper and a layup by King to take a 13-point edge into the locker room.
 
The game had five ties and eight lead changes.
 
Plain came off the bench to lead the Tigers with 16 points. Austin added a career-best 13 points while King had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
 
Although he fouled out with 4:36 left in the game, CAU's Chris Martin led all scorers with 28 points. Clark Atlanta (23-5) advances to the semifinals where they will play the winner of the Tuskegee/Benedict game on March 9 at 3 p.m. in Tiger Arena.