SAVANNAH, Ga.- Savannah State had their best defensive effort of the season, holding Benedict to under 50 points in a 64-49 victory on Saturday afternoon in Tiger Arena.

The win avenged a 50-48 road loss to Benedict on January 27 in Columbia, South Carolina.

The crowd of 2,042 saw the Tigers (9-10, 7-8 SIAC) win the battles in points off turnovers (15 to 2), bench points (19 to 8) and fast break points (12 to 9).

Trailing 7-4, Savannah State put together a 13-2 run to take a 17-9 lead with 11:04 remaining in the first half.

After Benedict pulled within 21-18 with just under eight minutes left, SSU ended the half with a 15-3 rally to go into intermission with a 36-21 advantage.

Benedict (4-18, 4-11 SIAC) trailed 38-28 after three minutes of play to start the second period but six unanswered points by Savannah State increased SSU's lead to 44-28 at the 16:02 mark.

With 13 minutes remaining the Tigers saw their lead dwindle to 11 but used a 12-2 run to increase it to 57-36 with 7:48 left for their largest lead of the game.

Benedict got as close as 59-47 with 2:53 showing but could only score two points the rest of the contest.

Jeremiah Barze led all scorers with 18 points, four rebounds and two assists. Ayjay Plain had 12 points and five assists while Qua King added 10 points, five rebounds and two assists.

Javonte Landy added nine points, seven assists, five rebounds and five steals, Michael Swift had eight points, Austin Lewis added three while Damerius Puttman and Juan Gordon had two points apiece.

The Tigers, who improved to 4-0 at home under interim head coach Clevan Thompson, will host Allen on February 10 at Tiger Arena at 7:30 p.m.

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