South Carolina State holds on to beat Savannah State 56-53

Feb 14, 2015, 08:59 pm

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- South Carolina State built a 20-point halftime lead then held on to edge Savannah State 56-53 on Saturday night.

Savannah State was within four points, 54-50, after Demarcus Bryant's 3-pointer with 1:18 left. Terel Hall added a free throw with 10 seconds left and missed a second that Brian Pearson was able to put back to get within a point with two seconds left. South Carolina State's Greg Mortimer scored on the game's final play.

Mortimer led the Bulldogs (10-17, 7-5 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) with 11 points and Tashombe Riley added 10.

Hall led the Tigers (6-18, 2-8) with 18 points.

South Carolina State shot 43.9 percent to Savannah State's 32.8 but the Tigers had a 44-33 rebounding edge, including 19 offensive boards, and took one more shot than the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs were only 18 of 28 from the free-throw line but the Tigers were just 11 of 23.