ALBANY, Ga.- For the second game in a row, Javonte Landy came off the bench to lead Savannah State in scoring. However, this time the Tigers fell short in a 65-56 loss to Albany State, in a game played at the Jones Brothers HPER Complex on Saturday afternoon.

Landy, a junior guard, tallied 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Savannah State was able to make five of their 3-point shots in the opening period but missed all ten attempts in the second half.

The Tigers were down by one in the second half but a pair of free throws by Landy gave SSU a 37-36 advantage with just under 14 minutes left to play. Albany State responded with a 9-2 spurt which put the Golden Rams ahead 45-39 with just under 12 minutes remaining.

Savannah State whittled their deficit down to four but a 9-4 ASU run put the Tigers behind 56-47 with 8:20 showing. Albany State's lead grew to 11 with 5:11 left but layups by Jerry Maxinaud and Michael Swift and a jumper by Jeremiah Barze drew the Tigers to within 61-56 with just under three minutes left. Unfortunately, SSU failed to score again while the Golden Rams made a field goal and two free throws to seal their win.

In the first half, Albany State raced out to a 12-1 lead. It took Savannah State nearly six minutes to hit their first field goal, a 3-pointer by Ayjay Plain.

The Tigers were down 28-18 but a layup by Landy, and back-to-back 3-pointers by Austin Lewis and Landy cut their deficit to 28-26 with three minutes left. Albany State scored the next four points but SSU finished the half with jumpers from Plain and Qua King to go into the break down 32-30.

Savannah State began the second period with a jumper from King and a layup by Jaydon Cousin to take a 34-32 lead at the 18:43 mark.

The Tigers ended the contest with more points off turnovers (14 to 8), bench points (32 to 21), second chance points (14 to 8) and fast break points (8 to 4). Plain and Swift finished with nine points each, King and Cousin scored six points apiece, Kasai Fontanez had five points, Barze had three and Maxinaud chipped in two. Plain led the team in rebounds (5) and assists (3) while King had two blocks and Landy and Swift had two steals each.

Savannah State (6-7, 4-5 SIAC) will travel to Fort Valley State on January 13 for a 7:30 p.m. match up with the Wildcats.

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