SAVANNAH, Ga. – Freshman guard Deron Powers forced overtime and led the Hampton University men's basketball team to its fourth straight win on Thursday, defeating Savannah State 71-68 at Tiger Arena.

Five Pirates ended the night in double figures.

Powers (Williamsburg, Va.) led the way with 15 points on 7-for-12 shooting – including the layup that forced overtime – to go along with a career-high eight rebounds. Junior guard/forward Du'Vaughn Maxwell (Manhattan, N.Y..) added 13 points and blocked four shots.

Junior guard Ramon Mercado (Hollywood, Fla.), senior guard Aaron Austin (Newport News, Va.), and freshman guard Ke'Ron Brown (Savannah, Ga.) each had 10 points in the win.

Savannah State led 56-50 with 3:59 to go in the second half after a 3-pointer from Preston Blackman, but the Pirates (9-13, 6-3 MEAC) scored the next six points to tie the game at 56-56 with 2:13 left after a layup from Maxwell.

Arnold Louis gave the Tigers a 58-56 lead with 1:55 left in the second half with a layup, before Powers attempted to tie the game with seconds to go with a jumper. His shot was blocked, but Powers grabbed the rebound and sank the layup to force the extra session.

Hampton was a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor in overtime, taking a 60-58 lead on a Powers jumper at the 3:19 mark. The Pirates never looked back, leading by as many as six after a free throw from Austin with 21 seconds left put the Pirates up 70-64.

Savannah State (12-10, 6-2 MEAC) was just 2-for-9 from the floor in overtime.

The Pirates opened the game up 6-0 after Mercado hit a 3-pointer at the 17:00 mark, before Savannah State answered with an 11-0 run to take an 11-6 lead with 13:19 left in the first half after a fastbreak layup from Louis.

A Blackman layup with 10:56 left in the half put the Tigers up 17-9, but Hampton responded with a 9-3 run to close the gap to 20-18 with 5:38 left in the half after a free throw from Maxwell. Austin added a fastbreak layup later, at the 3:21 mark, to give Hampton a 24-22 lead.

Savannah State closed the half with a 9-4 spurt to take a 31-28 lead into the half.

The Tigers took a 41-33 lead with 14:34 left in the second half after a jumper from Rashad Hassan, before the Pirates went on a 12-2 run to take a 45-43 lead with 10:42 left in regulation after Mercado converted a fastbreak layup.

Six straight Savannah State points gave the Tigers a 49-45 lead after Hassan hit a pair of free throws with 8:13 left in the second half.

The Pirates shot a season-best 50.0 percent (27-for-54) from the floor, despite hitting just three of their 11 3-pointers. Hampton also struggled from the free throw line, going just 14-for-24 (58.3 percent) from the charity stripe.

Hampton held a 39-34 edge on the glass and turned 17 Savannah State turnovers into 21 points.

The Tigers shot 36.4 percent (24-for-66) from the floor and hit six of their 24 3-pointers. Louis led Savannah State with 26 points and 10 rebounds.

The Pirates will return to action on Monday, when they return to the HU Convocation Center to take on Delaware State at 8 p.m. For more information on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.