SAVANNAH, Ga. — In Thursday night's game against
Albany State,
Zyere Edwards came off the bench to score 13 points for
Savannah State but none was more important as his last basket.
After the Golden Rams tied the game at 57 with 11.1 seconds left, Edwards took the inbound pass and dribbled down court. The 5-foot-10 Savannah native saw an opening in the middle, drove in the paint and tossed up a layup that hung on the back of the rim for a few seconds before falling in for the game-winning points, a 59-57 win for the Tigers.
The victory brought the Tiger Arena crowd of nearly 500 fans to their feet with excitement as SSU improved to 11-9 overall and 11-7 in the SIAC.
But the victory almost didn't happen.
Savannah State led 56-47 with 2:47 left on the clock but ASU responded with a 10-1 run to tie the game with 11.1 seconds remaining. The Golden Rams stayed in the game down the stretch by making 7-of-8 free throw attempts while a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left put them within 57-55.
The Tigers scored the first eight points of the contest and after they went ahead 10-2, they saw Albany State string together a 19-1 run to grab a 21-11 lead with 6:48 left in the first half.
Down by seven with 2:31 remaining, back-to-back layups by
Braylon Jackson and
Michael Swift cut the Tigers deficit to 26-23.
Neither team would score the remaining 1:38 of the half and SSU went into intermission down by three.
A jumper by
Jordan Mikell to start the second half drew SSU to within one and a layup by
James Leach put the Tigers ahead 27-26, early in the period.
With the scored tied at 38 with 10:24 showing in the clock, Savannah State got a little separation with a dunk by Leach and back-to-back layups by Jackson and Edwards for a 44-38 cushion.
Albany State was able to whittle the SSU lead to four with a little over four minutes remaining but a jumper and a free throw by Edwards and a jumper by
Javonte Landy gave Savannah State some breathing room and a 56-47 lead with 2:47 left, before the Golden Rams made a late charge.
Leach finished the game with a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Michael Swift and
Zion Davis added eight points apiece and Landy chipped in seven points.
Jackson scored six points, Mikell had four,
Brandon Johnson added two and
Kelvin Cochran chipped in a free throw.
In a game that had four ties and four lead changes, the Tigers had 17 points off turnovers, 14 second chance points, 28 bench points and 24 points in the paint.
Savannah State will host Spring Hill on February 7 at 3:30 p.m.
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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 (HBCUs) 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.