Box Score | Updated Bracket

NORFOLK, Va., March 11, 2019 – Eleventh-seeded Delaware State built a 17-point lead with less than 14 minutes left and hung on for a 71-67 upset win over No. 6 seed Savannah State Monday in opening-round action of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Basketball Tournament at Scope Arena.

The win moved the 6-24 Hornets into Thursday’s quarterfinal against third-seeded North Carolina Central at 6 p.m. Savannah State ended its final year in the MEAC at 11-20.

The underdog Hornets, ahead 31-25 at the half, started the final stanza with a 17-6 run to go ahead 48-31 behind the scoring of Kevin Larkin, who led all scorers with 19 points and added a team-high nine rebounds in the win. Larkin had Delaware State’s last seven points during the spree, including a 3-pointer at the 13:21 mark.

The Tigers, always a threat because of their ability to shoot the long ball, rallied to close the gap to 51-43 on two Adam Saeed free throws with 9:18 showing before Delaware State used a 10-7 run to regain control and take a 61-50 advantage with 5:42 to play.

But Savannah State was not done and took advantage of some untimely Hornet turnovers and missed free throw opportunities to close the gap to two, 69-67, when Zach Sellers hit a driving layup with 14.8 ticks on the clock.

Jonathan Mitchell, however, one of three Hornets who combined to miss a potential seven free throws in the final 1:42, finally connected on two attempts with 8.4 seconds left for the final margin and the tournament upset for first-year head coach Eric Skeeters.

Saliek Edwards followed Larkin in the scoring column for Delaware State with 17 points six boards. Marco Baucom contributed 12 points and seven rebounds and Mitchell 10 points and five points in the victory.

Savannah State got 15 points each from Zaquavian Smith and reserved Tyrell Harper. Jaquan Dotson was also in double figures for the Tigers with 14 points. Romani Hansen led Coach Horace Broadnax’s team on the boards with 11 rebounds to go along with seven points. Harper was also in double digits in rebounds with 10 for the Tigers who enjoyed a modest 52-24 edge on the boards.

The Hornets, who lost 76-73 to Savannah State at Dover, DE in their only meeting of the season, led for most of the contest. They scored the first four points of the game before falling behind 10-7 when Dotson canned a 3-pointer for a 10-7 Tiger lead with 13:12 on the first period clock.

The underdog regained the lead at 11-10 on a short jumper by Mitchell and maintained the lead the rest of the way, building a nine-point advantage at 19-10 at 9:27 of the period before taking a 31-25 edge to the locker room.