Golden Eagles Topple Savannah State

December 29, 2007
MILWAUKEE, Wi- Three Marquette players scored in double figures as the 12th ranked Golden Eagles defeated Savannah State 77-37 before a crowd of 15,060 at the Bradley Center.

Lazar Hayward and Dominic James each scored 12 points while Dan Fitzgerald came off the bench to chip in 11 points.

Curtis Brown came off the bench to lead Savannah State with nine points and three steals.

Nineteen seconds into the game, SSU took a three-point lead after Patrick Hardy hit a 3-pointer. Marquette answered with a 13-0 run and never looked back.

The Tigers closed their deficit to six with 13:33 left in the half but Marquette scored 17 straight points during a 21-2 spurt that increased their advantage to 36-11 with 7:14 on the clock.

Marquette (10-1) led by as many as 29 points in the first period and took a 46-19 advantage at halftime.

The Golden Eagles scored 13 points off 14 SSU turnovers in the first half and shot 47.1 percent from the floor and hit 5-of-10 3-point attempts. Savannah State shot 28 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.

SSU (7-11) trailed by 28 early in the second half but Marquette put together a 12-1 run that gave the host a 65-26 lead with 10:06 left in the lopsided contest.

An 11-5 run by the Tigers whittled their deficit down to 33 with 3:13 left but Marquette finished the game with a 7-1 run to walk away with the 40-point victory.

Marquette out-rebounded the Tigers 46-28 and finished the game shooting 45.6 percent from the floor and 50 percent from behind the arc. Savannah State finished the contest shooting 25.5 percent from the floor but their defense forced Marquette to commit 21 turnovers.

Chris Linton added six points while freshmen Anthony Jones and Rod Mitchell scored five points apiece.