SAVANNAH, Ga. —
Savannah State scored the first 11 points of the game and held off a furious rally by
Lane in a 80-74 victory Monday night in Tiger Arena.
The Dragon trailed by as many as 19 in the second quarter and went into intermission down 42-25.
Savannah State led 55-38 with three minutes left in the third quarter but Lane finished the quarter with a 9-1 run to enter the fourth quarter down by nine.
The Tigers saw their 60-51 fourth quarter lead dwindle to 63-62 with 5:18 remaining but a pair of free throws by
Amani Hamilton a free throw by
Sanai Chisholm and a layup by
K'lya Hankerson extended Savannah State's advantage to 68-62 at the 3:47 mark.
A 3-pointer by Lane cut its deficit to 68-67 with 2:51 showing on the clock but four consecutive free throws by
Mya Byrd gave SSU a 72-67 cushion.
The Dragons were able to get as close as five in the final seconds, but two free throws apiece by Byrd and Hamilton proved to be the difference down the stretch as Savannah State improved to 4-0 at home.
Hamilton had her second straight double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds.
Byrd had a game-high 24 points for Savannah State, making five 3-pointers and going 9 of 10 from the free-throw line. Hankerson added ten points.
The Lady Tigers raced out to an 11-0 lead and didn't allow Lane to score a point until 4:30 was left in the first quarter. The Dragons were held without a field goal until the 4:15 mark of the opening quarter.
Savannah State led by as many as 13 in the first quarter before Lane rallied to get within 21-14.
Clinging to a 32-23 lead with just over three minutes left in the second quarter, Savannah State scored the next ten points to grab its largest lead of the night at 42-23 with 16 seconds left in the first half.
Savannah State shot 46.9 percent from the field and scored 20 points off 19 turnovers made by Lane.
Alayah Birch and Chisolm scored eight points apiece,
Jayden Boykin added six points and
Jazmin Thornton made one point.
Savannah State improved to 6-4 overall and evened its SIAC record to 2-2 with the win.
The series with Lane started during the 1997-98 season, and Savannah State now owns a 5-4 lead.
The Tigers will close out the 2024 portion of their schedule on the road at Spring Hill (Dec. 19) and Miles (Dec. 21).
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ABOUT THE SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (SIAC)
The SIAC is a NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of historically black colleges and universities with headquarters in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The SIAC includes 15 member institutions (Albany State University, Allen University, Benedict College, Central State University, Clark Atlanta University, Edward Waters University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Miles College, Morehouse College, Savannah State University, Spring Hill College, and Tuskegee University), which are located within a contiguous seven-state footprint (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio). The SIAC sponsors nine men's and seven women's sports and is a proud member of the NCAA Division II. For more information, visit
www.thesiac.com.