Savannah State tops South Carolina State 69-50

Mar 6, 2014, 10:12 pm

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Jyles Smith scored 19 points, a career high, and pulled down 14 rebounds as Savannah State defeated South Carolina State 69-50 on Thursday night in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular-season finale.

The Tigers (12-18) secured the fifth seed into the conference tournament that begins on Monday in Norfolk, Va. Smith's double-double was his sixth of the season.

Savannah State led just 26-24 at halftime but used a 13-5 run to start the second half to go up 10 points with 17:48 left. The Tigers had a double-digit lead for the last 6:25 of the game.

Jalen White scored 13 points and Matthew Hezekiah 11 for South Carolina State (9-20).

The Tigers hit 25 of 52 shots for 48.1 percent while outrebounding the Bulldogs 37-31.

The Bulldogs made 19 of 36 shots for 33.9 percent, missing all 13 of their 3-point attempts.