FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.- Savannah State saw their postseason come to an end on Saturday afternoon following the Tigers 76-64 loss to Nova Southeastern in the first round of the NCAA South Regional.

The crowd in Rick Case Arena saw SSU hold the nation's No. 1 offense to just 76 points, their second lowest scoring output of the season.

Nova (31-1) entered the game ranked No. 2 in Division II and had a No. 1 seed in the South Regional while SSU entered as the No. 8 seed.

Savannah State was down by eight early in the second half but used a 8-1 run to whittle NSU's lead to 45-44 with 15:10 left in the game.

During the run, the Tigers received a layup from Jeremiah Barze, a jumper from Austin Lewis and back-to-back layups from Javonte Landy.

The Sharks responded to SSU's rally with a 14-4 spurt that put them ahead by 11 with 11 minutes showing on the clock.

Savannah State's deficit grew to 69-55 with 4:46 left but a 10-2 run by SSU sliced their gap to single digits at 71-63 with 1:12 remaining.

Jordan Mikel started the rally with a layup which was followed by a jumper from Qua King and two free throws apiece from Barze and Ayjay Plain.

Savannah State's final points came on a Landy free throw with 26 seconds left to make the score 73-64.

In a game that had only one tie and two lead changes, Nova Southeastern never trailed in the first period.

SSU trailed 28-22 with six and a half minutes remaining and was table to tie to tie the score at 29 following a layup by Barze with just over four minutes left.

But the Sharks scored the next nine points to take a 38-29 lead before two free throws by Barze with 1:06 remaining that sent the teams into intermission with Nova Southeastern leading 38-31.

Lewis hit a 3-pointer to open the second half to pull the Tigers within 38-34.

Savannah State ended the game with more second chance (16) and bench (16) points than the Sharks.

Nova Southeastern won the rebounding battle (46 to 44) and also had more free throw attempts. The Sharks shot 30 free throws while SSU only shot 14.

Landy had a game-high 18 points to go with his five rebounds and two assists while Barze added a dozen points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Plain had seven points and five rebounds, King had six points and four rebounds and Lewis chipped in five points.

Jerry Maxinaud, Michael Swift and Kasai Fontanez scored four points apiece while Mikel and Jaydon Cousin both had two points.

Savannah State closed the regular season with four straight wins and then won four games in a row at the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament to win its first championship since the 2021-22 season.

Interim head coach Clevan Thompson took over the team after the retirement of Horace Broadnax when they were 5-6 overall and 3-4 in conference play and guided them to 13 wins as they finished the season with a 18-12 overall record and a 12-9 mark in the SIAC.

Saturday's contest was the final game in a SSU uniform for seniors Qua King, Ayjay Plain, Austin Lewis, Jarry Maxinaud and Jaydon Cousin.

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