SAVANNAH, Ga.- Entering Monday night's game with Fort Valley State, Ayjay Plain has been the offensive spark that the Tigers have needed him to be and his game against the Wildcats in Tiger Arena was no different with the Melbourne, Florida native scoring a game-high 16 points to compliment his five rebounds and four steals in a 68-52 win.

The 6-foot-4 guard also notched 1,000 career-points in the victory. Plain started the game with 984 points and his 3-pointer with 4:50 remaining gave the Tigers their largest lead of the night at 64-40 and also clinched his 1,000th career points.

Down 15-14 in the first period, the Tigers used a 8-0 run to go ahead by seven with 4:13 left.

The Wildcats would cut their deficit to two inside of a minute remaining but a 3-pointer by Plain with 30 seconds left would send SSU into intermission with a 28-23 lead.

A 8-0 run to start the second half would push Savannah State's lead to 13.

FVSU made the score 44-34 but the Tigers responded with a 3-pointer and a dunk from Jeremiah Barze and a layup by Michael Swift to extend their lead to 17 with  9:22showing.

With 8:26 left and a 13 point cushion, the Tigers got the separation they needed with a 13-2 run which was keyed by a 3-pointer, dunk and a jumper from Swift and back-to-back 3-pointers from Plain for a 64-40 advantage.

The Wildcats (11-17, 10-10 SIAC) would get no closer than 14 the rest of the way and a layup by Kasai Fontanez with 19 seconds left sealed the 16-point win.

SSU won the rebounding battle 39 to 36 and had 25 points off 23 Fort Valley State turnovers in addition to having more second chance points (13 to 7), points in the paint (36 to 14) and bench points (32 to 12).

The game was also a homecoming for Wildcat guard Marcus Scott who spent three seasons with the Tigers program. Scott, who graduated in May 2022 with a education degree, helped the Tigers to win the 2022 SIAC Tournament Championship where he won Most Valuable Player honors. He scored nine points for the Wildcats.

Barze and Swift both finished the game with a dozen points for the Tigers while Jerry Maxinaud had eight points and nine rebounds. 

Javonte Landy and Qua King had five points each, Fontanez scored four points and Austin Lewis and Jaydon Cousin both chipped in three points.

Savannah State improved to 13-11 and 11-9 in the SIAC as they won their third game in a row.

The Tigers will close the regular season at home against Albany State on February 26 at 7:30 p.m.

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