SAVANNAH, Ga. - The Savannah State men's basketball team has accepted an invitation to play in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

The Tigers will travel to Greenville, North Carolina to play East Carolina on March 19 at 7:00 p.m. The contest will be played inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

It will be the first ever meeting between SSU and the Pirates.

Savannah State's offense is anchored by a trio of seniors. Rashad Hassan averages 12.8 points and 5.8 rebounds a game, Arnold Louis averages 8.1 points and 7.8 rebounds a game while Preston Blackman averages 11.9 points and 3.5 assists per contest.

The Tigers score 56.5 points a game and have one of the best defenses in the nation, giving up 55.2 points a game.

SSU (19-14) enters the game coming off a quarterfinal overtime loss to Morgan State in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament.

Savannah State participated in the National Invitational Tournament last season.

East Carolina, which competes in Conference USA, has an 18-12 record and lost to Tulsa in the quarterfinals of the C-USA tournament.

Maurice Kemp (6-8, 190) leads ECU in scoring with 18.6 points per game. Robert Sampson (6-8, 210) averages 8.9 rebounds per game while Miguel Paul (6-1, 170) averages 6.9 assists.

As a team, the Pirates average 77 points a game while giving up 72.5.