SAVANNAH, Ga. - In a sloppy affair with a combined nine turnovers, the Charleston Southern defense came up big when they needed two as the Buccaneers won their third-straight game, 29-20 over Savannah State. The CSU defense got two big stops, one at the end of each half, to help the Bucs even their record at 3-3, while Savannah State fell to 3-4, losing for just the second time at home this season.

Josh Mitchell led the CSU defensive corps with seven tackles, while Quinton Johnson had 3.5 of the team's 10 tackles-for-loss on the day. It was Mitchel and Chris Kuzdale who led the stop on a second-and-goal play at the end of the first half, keeping SSU out of the endzone and giving CSU a 26-14 halftime advantage. Kamalu Umu, recovered a bad snap with just 1:56 on the clock to seal the victory for CSU.

"I was disappointed with the turnovers, but thought our defense came up huge," said Head Coach Jay Mills. "I thought we had taken a big step last game in working on the fundamentals and learning not to beat yourself. We had some costly penalties and inopportune times and our lack of execution was disappointing. The good news is that it is all correctable, and it's nice to be correcting it after a win."

The CSU offense tallied 305 total offensive yards, but had two fumbles lost, and a combined three interceptions on the day. A.J. Toscano got the first start of his CSU career, throwing for 74 yards, completing seven of his 11 pass attempts before leaving with an injury. Tribble Reese came in to take snaps in the second half, finishing four-of-nine with two interceptions. Gabe Gilmour also took a snap in the game, but was the recipient of a 29-yard pass from Tim Jones in his only play.

Markus Murry moved into fourth all-time in receptions for CSU with 106, hauling in three passes for a team-high 62 yards and the lone passing touchdown.

It took just 0:45 and two plays, both from the legs of Moon, for CSU to put six points on the board. Moon's first carry, a 38-yarder, set up CSU on the six yardline where Moon walked in virtually untouched for the opening score. Kicker John Paglia missed the extra point for just the second time all season, keeping the CSU lead at 6-0.

Moon finished the day with 17 carries for 95 yards and a touchdown. Gerald Stevenson and T.J. Lattimore also got into the endzone on the ground for CSU.

Kurvin Curry completed 17-29 passes for 181 yards and three touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions. Deleon Hollinger was the leading receiver for the Tigers with eight catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns.

"I really thought that Coach Theo Lemon had things going in the right direction over the past two years, but Coach Robbie Wells has come in and really taken it to another level," said Mills. "We could see on tap that they are much improved and for the most part play very fundamentally sound football."

Both teams threw early interceptions, with Andrew McKain picking off the first SSU offensive play to set CSU up in SSU territory. Toscano's second pass gave the ball right back to the Tigers, though, as Jamar Graham intercepted it on the goal line.

A bad snap resulted in the second turnover of the game for CSU, giving Savannah State the ball back with great field position. Flushed from the pocket by the defensive line of CSU, Curry scrambled on a second-and-long and found Isaiah Osborne in the back of the end zone to tie the game. The extra point sailed through to give the Tigers the lead 7-6.

It took three fourth-down conversions but the end-around to Gerald Stevenson punched in from the six yardline again to give the lead back to CSU on the first play of the second quarter. Toscano tried to take it in on the quarterback keeper as CSU went for two, but the Tigers stopped him just inches short, keeping it at 12-7.

A quick three-and-out forced an SSU punt, and Toscano got his first passing touchdown on the ensuing drive as he found Markus Murry for 27 yards for the to go up 18-7. A pass to Tyrese Harris on the conversion attempt pushed the lead out to 13 points.

The third fumble came with 7:14 left in the first half as the ball was jarred out of the hands of Toscano, ending another CSU drive. The defense was up to the task, though, as Philip Ashley got his third interception of the season to get the ball right back for CSU. The pick was number eight in his career, giving him sole possession of the CSU school record after having tied the mark last week against Gardner-Webb.

"It feels really good to set the record," said Ashley, who is now tied for fourth all-time in the Big South. "I've really had my eye on the record and have been working toward it since I came to CSU. Any time I see the quarterback throwing at me, I just try to take the mentality that it is my ball to catch, and thanks to a miscommunication by the offense today, I was able to get the record."

CSU used the momentum, as well as a pass from wide out Jones to backup quarterback Gilmour to put additional points on the board. Again Paglia failed on his extra-point attempt.

A third-down conversion late in the first half sent SSU into the redzone for the first time in the game as Deleon Hollinger sprinted down the sideline for 69 yards. Hollinger and Curry hooked up again from seven-yards out as they made it 26-14 with just 24.8 seconds in the half.

Reese, who entered the game late in the first half, tried to get some yards and points for CSU going into the break. His pass across the middle was tipped and intercepted, though, with Chris Asbury running it back all the way down inside the 10 yardline with :09 still showing. A Curry run put the ball on the one, but the defensive line came up with a big stop, keeping them out of the endzone as time expired.

The third quarter was not fruitful for either of the two offenses as neither team was able to put any additional points on the board.

It would take less than two minutes in the fourth quarter for Savannah State to cut it to a one-score game at 26-20 as Hollinger got in the endzone from 13 yards out.

The CSU offense continued to struggle in the second half as they had another three-and-out, punting the ball to the SSU 20, trying to take advantage of field position.

The game plan paid off as CSU got the ball back on the SSU side of the field. The Bucs moved down and put some much-needed points on the board with a Paglia 20-yard field goal to push the lead out to nine points, 29-20.

Savannah State put the ball on the ground for the first time with under two minutes to go, their first fumble and fourth turnover as Umu pounced on the loose ball to help CSU run the clock out.

CSU will stay on the road next weekend to face the Big South's newest member, Stony Brook.