SAVANNAH, Ga.- Kentucky State broke open a close game by scoring the next 24 points and went on to defeat Savannah State on Saturday evening in Theodore A. Wright Stadium.

The loss dropped the Tigers to 2-2 on the season and 1-2 in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.

The teams traded points in the early going with Kentucky State scoring a touchdown with 6:11 remaining in the first quarter for a 6-0 lead.

Savannah State answered with a pair of field goals from Jimmy Tran. The senior from Gainesville, Georgia booted a career-best 42-yard field goal with 53 seconds left in the opening quarter and then added a 38-yard field goal with 11:40 showing on the clock in the second quarter to tie the game at 6-6.

A key play during SSU's first scoring drive was a 25-yard pass completion from Fabian Walker to Cinsere Clark. 

The Tigers second score was a result of Ahlik Booker causing the KSU running back to fumble the ball and it was recovered by Kirk Smith at the Savannah State 47. During the scoring drive, Fabian completed a ten yard pass to tight end Arik Gilbert and later scrambled for a 12-yard run.

Kentucky State closed the first half with 17 unanswered points with a offensive touchdown, a interception that was returned for a touchdown and a 28-yard field goal for a 23-6 halftime advantage.

KSU opened the third quarter with a touchdown drive to widen their lead to 30-6 while on the Tigers first possession of the second half, Walker threw a interception, his third of the game, which gave the Thorobreds a first down at the SSU 31.

The Savannah State defense held KSU out of the end zone, stopping them on a fourth and one at the 22-yard line.

SSU's offense responded with Christian Burks engineering a five-play, 78-yard drive that ended with Joseph Hampton scoring on a two-yard run with 7:57 left in the third quarter. Jadon Adams scored on the two-point conversion to cut the Kentucky State lead to 30-14.

Burks completed a pass to Hampton during the possession that covered 66-yards, giving SSU a first down at the Kentucky State 12.

KSU followed Savannah State's scored with a touchdown to increase their lead to 37-14 at the 5:07 mark of the third quarter.

Savannah State had the only score of the game in the fourth quarter with Burks throwing a two-yard touchdown pass to Clark with 7:56 remaining to cap a 10-play, 95-yard drive, after a KSU punt pinned the Tigers at their own five yard line.

During the drive, Burks had a eight yard run and completed passes of 25 and 11 yards to TaDarius Vaughn.

The Tigers defense entered the game ranked fourth in NCAA Division II in rush defense and eighth in total defense but Kentucky State was able to gain 341 yards of offense with 194 coming on the ground.

Savannah State had 344 yards of offense but they also threw four interceptions and gave up four sacks.

Burks, who started the first two games of the season for SSU, came off the bench and completed 13 of 22 passes for 165 yards with one touchdown and one interception while Walker had 113 passing yards with three interceptions. Both quarterbacks were sacked twice.

David Gardner, Jr. ran the ball 11 times for 43 yards while Clark had six receptions for 67 yards and a touchdown. Hampton caught four passes for 62 yards out of the backfield.

The crowd of 1,875 saw Lucas Edenfield average 34.7 yards on his three punts and had a long of 41 yards.

Louisville, Kentucky native Darrian Bell led SSU with a game-high ten tackles while fellow linebackers Tavare Brewton (6) and Ameer Phillips (5) combined for 11 tackles.

Savannah State will be on the road for the next three weeks with two trips to South Carolina and another to Augusta, before returning home on October 25 for Homecoming.

The Tigers will step out of conference to play FCS opponent South Carolina State on October 4 in Orangeburg, South Carolina at 1:30 p.m.

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