SAVANNAH, Ga. – Kentucky State men's basketball team, seeded fourth (West), ended their 2023-24 season on Tuesday with an 87-71 loss to fifth-seeded(East)t Savannah State in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Basketball Championship Tuesday afternoon in Savannah, Georgia. 

At the start of the game SIAC Commissioner Anthony Holloman awarded Brandon Hill with his Elite 14 Award for not only competing at a high level on the court but also earning a 4.00 GPA in the classroom. 

Joseph Owens hit six field goals and one free throw for a total of 13 points, matching teammate Lavar Miller Jr., who tallied his 13 points through five free throws and a pair of three-pointers.

Kentucky State's reserves contributed 31 points off the bench, with Joseph Owens leading the charge with 13 points. Jaylen Daughtery and Justin Edmondson bolstered the bench's production, chipping in eight points apiece.
 
How It Happened
In the first half, Savannah State built a lead of as much as 16 points (35-19) with 4:32 left. Both teams sank two free throws and a pair of three-pointers, but the Tigers' 17 field goals secured a 42-30 advantage over Kentucky State at halftime.

In the second half, Kentucky State capitalized on seven turnovers to score 12 points, while their bench outscored the Tigers' reserves 22-15. The Tigers made 13 out of 19 free-throw attempts, while Kentucky State converted seven of their nine tries from the line. Free throws gave Savannah State a second half advantage and led to an 87-71 victory over the Thorobreds. 
 
Post-Game Quotes
Playing in his final game of his collegiate career Brandon Hill said post-game, "It has been a ride and defiantly has been a joy to play for Dr. Jamaal Jackson it has been an up and down season, but I knew it was my last season, so I wanted to leave it all out there." 

Head coach Dr. Jamaal Jackson said during the post-game conference, "We came out slow in the first half but we have done that before, so we didn't panic. We knew we could do what we needed to do to get back in the game, but we just weren't able to knock down the shots that we needed to get back into the game. They [Savannah State] shot 60% from the field, four shots from the three and they had more free throws so that hurt us. We made some scoring runs but we were just going back and forth.
 
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