FORT VALLEY, Ga.- Savannah State saw their record fall to 6-8 overall and 4-6 in the SIAC after a 58-54 road loss to Fort Valley State on Monday night.

The Tigers led by four at the half but were outscored 36-28 in the second period.

In a game that had seven ties and six lead changes, SSU dominated for the most part.

Although the Wildcats had a slight edge in points in the paint (32 to 30), Savannah State won the other statistical categories such as points off turnovers (12 to 10), bench points (19 to 5) and second chance points (14 to 11).

Fort Valley State led 14-6 before the Tigers tied the game at 16 with a 10-2 run. Down 20-17, SSU used a pair of free throws from Michael Swift and a tip in by Javonte Landy to take a 21-20 lead with 4:41 left in the first period.
After the Wildcats went ahead 22-21, Savannah State finished the final 4:06 with layups from Landy and Qua King and a free throw by Jeremiah Barze to go into the half with a 26-22 advantage.

The teams went back and forth trading baskets for much of the second half. With the score knotted at 34, Fort Valley State used a 7-1 mini-run to get some separation at 41-35 with 12:26 remaining.

With just over three minutes remaining Savannah State trailed 51-43 but used a 8-2 run to make the score 53-51. Down by five, a layup and free throw by Barze sliced SSU's deficit to 56-54 with 18 seconds remaining but the Wildcats hit two free throws in the closing seconds to secure the win.

Barze had a double-double with ten points and ten rebounds for Savannah State.

Swift added 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench while King, a Dublin native, also had 11 points to go with his four rebounds.

Rounding out the Tiger scoring was Jaydon Cousin (8), Landy (7), Jordan Mikel (4) and Austin Lewis (3).

Savannah State will be back in action on January 18 with a home game against Clark Atlanta at 4 p.m.

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