ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Benedict College Tigers couldn't dig out of a huge first-half deficit, and Savannah State University captured the 2022 SIAC men's basketball championship with a 76-62 victory on Saturday night in the Rock Hill Sports & Events Center.

The Tigers shot just 24 percent (7-of-29) in the first half and trailed 46-15 at the break. Benedict went a span of nearly seven and a half minutes without scoring as Savannah State went from trailing 6-5 to leading 25-6 before Malachi McCoy scored on a jumper to break the drought. Another basket by McCoy made it 27-10, but Savannah State went on another run, scoring the next 11 points to push the lead to 38-10.

Benedict wraps up its season at 22-7. Savannah State improves to 15-13 and earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.

"We just didn't respond well. We got punched in the mouth early," said Benedict head coach Artis Maddox. "We missed layups, made turnovers. You just can't have that when you're trying to win championships. Kudos to Savannah State, they forced us into those turnovers and forced us into those missed layups."

The Tigers rallied in the second half, outscoring Savannah State 15-2 at one point to cut the lead to 50-37 with 9:56 remaining. Benedict never could cut the lead to less than 12 points the rest of the way as Savannah State was able to capitalize at the free-throw line, connecting on 19-of-25 from the stripe.

"We were trying to chip away at it," Maddox said. "We did a great job the first 10 or 12 minutes of the second half, but then we got in foul trouble and started putting them at the line."

Timothy Bing Jr. led the Tigers with 20 points and was named to the SIAC All-Tournament team. Malachi McCoy added 13 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds and joined Bing on the All-Tournament team.

Savannah State's Marcus Scott was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after scoring 18 points in the championship game.

"I'm proud of these guys, and my coaches," Maddox said. "They worked so hard this season. Win, lose or draw, I love them."